The Guardian reported that the Florida-based charity Eternal Reefs offers ocean lovers a way to "leave love for the ocean" through burial - coral reef burial.
Demand for coral reef burials triples during the pandemic
According to Everlasting Reef, reef burials involve mixing pH-neutral concrete with human ashes to create "reef balls" that are placed in regulated areas of the seabed along the U.S. coast. Everlasting Reef provides the deceased's family with the GPS coordinates of the "burial plot."
Everlasting Reef said demand for coral reef burials has tripled during COVID-19, mostly from ocean enthusiasts who want to help marine life regenerate after their death.
Humanity's desire to return to the ocean after death dates back thousands of years, with evidence of sea burials dating back to ancient Egypt and Rome. Today, various forms of sea burial are practiced around the world. In the South Pacific, for example, bodies are placed on canoes and pushed into the sea. In Asia, scattering ashes at sea has been a common and long-standing practice.
Sea burial is now generally considered a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burial and cremation. Although coral reef burial still requires cremation, the ashes can help restore marine habitats by mimicking certain features of coral reefs.
According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most of the world's coral reefs are threatened by ocean warming and acidification, pollution, and overfishing. Coral reefs provide numerous ecological and social functions, including protecting coastlines, sustaining marine ecosystems, providing livelihoods for local communities, and even helping scientists develop new medicines.
3,000 artificial reef balls launched into the sea to help marine life grow
Everlasting Reef collaborated with the Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations to create the reef balls. These balls are over a meter tall, two meters wide, and weigh between 250 and 1,800 kilograms. Their rough surface allows marine plants and animals, such as corals and algae, to grow on them. To date, Everlasting Reef has placed nearly 3,000 memorial reefs at approximately 25 locations from Texas to New Jersey.
Murray Roberts, professor of marine biology at the School of GeoSciences at the University of Edinburgh, thinks the idea of coral reef burials is good. "Corals and animals grow much better on reef balls," he said. "I don't see any obvious downsides."
Roberts said that placing human ashes in artificial reefs[1] would not only protect them from destruction, but also draw more attention to the damage humans are doing to the oceans – “Imagine how shocking it would be if a trawl net scraped a coral reef that contained human remains.”
Dr. Ken Collins of the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton in the UK agrees. "This is a well-planned, undisturbed patch of seabed," he says. Collins specializes in artificial reefs and is involved in a UK coral reef burial project. He believes the impact of the reef balls on the marine ecosystem will last only a few days at most.
Everlasting Reef says a coral reef burial costs between $3,000 and $7,500, and that the proceeds will be used to build more artificial reefs. "We see ourselves as reef builders. That's our goal," said George Frankel, CEO of Everlasting Reef. "And incorporating burials is how we build reefs."
Is coral reef burial the best environmental choice? Scholars point out the problems
Coincidentally, the Neptune Memorial Reef, an underwater cemetery in Florida, also offers artificial reefs made from concrete and ash. Jim Hutslar, director of operations, explains that the reef is home to 56 species of fish, crabs, sea urchins, sponges, and corals. The cemetery can accommodate up to 250,000 reefs, covering over 6.5 hectares. Once full, it will become one of the world's largest artificial coral reefs.
This idea has also been adopted in Dorset, England, as a way to promote diving activities. Two local divers obtained permission from the Crown Estate to create a reef area covering one square kilometer off the coast of Weymouth and Portland to help restore the local lobster population and develop tourist diving activities.
However, not everyone agrees with this burial method. Reef burial still requires cremation, which releases an average of 400 kilograms of carbon dioxide per body. "If people really want change, cremation shouldn't be the way to go," said Rosie Inman-Cook, manager of the charity The Centre for Natural Death.
Furthermore, the concrete used in reef balls accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions during its manufacturing process. Michael Steinke, a marine biologist at the University of Essex in the UK, said that concrete carries a significant environmental cost. "From that perspective, if you're really environmentally conscious, this might not be the best idea."
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/233432)
