Janet Hock is a former professor of dentistry living in Indianapolis. She is also a scuba diving enthusiast, with a longstanding love of the ocean. “We travel all over the Earth, but there are other worlds that are teeming with life — or were,” she said.
So when Hock, 77, updated her will in 2020, she added that she wanted to be part of the reef when she died. The unusual request means her cremated remains will be mixed into a perforated concrete dome, known as a reef ball. She will then become part of an artificial reef, having second life on the seabed.
“You are providing structure for fish to swim through and a place for plants to grow,” says Hock. “My first impression was that they were really ugly. Then I thought: ‘Oh, it’s great to be down there, with the little orange fish darting through the holes in my ball.’ ”
The service is provided by Eternal Reefs, a Florida-based charity that says it offers a “way to give back after life by replenishing declining natural reef systems.” “. It places underground soccer balls made of pH-neutral concrete, along with human ashes, in controlled areas of the seafloor around the United States. Family and friends are given GPS coordinates of where their loved one’s “grave” is located.
The charity says it has seen the number of requests triple during the pandemic, mainly from marine lovers – and the notion that in death they can help regenerate the creature. sea.
The desire to return to the ocean goes back millennia, with evidence of sea burials in ancient Egypt and Rome. In the South Pacific, bodies will be loaded into canoes and pushed out to sea, while ocean ash scattering has long been practiced widely in Asia. And stories of Viking heroes’ boats being burned down have persisted in popular culture.
Today, the idea of an ocean burial bell with look for eco-friendly alternatives for traditional burial and cremation. While the reef model still requires cremation, the idea is that the structures will help restore marine habitat by mimicking some of the reef’s features.
Most of the world’s coral reefs are in danger – from ocean warming and acidification, pollution and overfishing – according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Coral reefs are essential for protecting coastlines and maintaining marine ecosystems, as well as providing work for local communities and even helping scientists. new drug production.
Eternal Reefs works with Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations, the organization that builds the balls. Over a meter high, two meters wide and weighing 250kg-1,800kg (550lb-4,000lb), the balls have a rough surface that allows marine plants and animals such as corals and algae to grow on them. The organization so far has sunk close to 3,000 memorial reefs across approximately 25 sitesfrom Texas to New Jersey.
Murray Roberts, professor of marine biology at the University of Edinburgh’s school of geosciences, thinks it’s a good idea. “Corals and all kinds of animals are better developed in structure,” he said. “I can’t see a clear downside.”
Incorporating human ashes into artificial reefs could help protect them from destruction, as well as highlight the damage we do to the oceans, says Roberts. “When you have man-made reefs containing human remains, imagine the devastation that would happen if that area was pulled up,” he said.
Dr Ken Collins, of the University of Southampton’s National Oceanographic Center, agrees. “It’s a designated portion of the seabed that remains undisturbed,” he said. Collins, who specializes in artificial reefs, sees no problems with marine concrete and has personally participated in a memorial reef in the UK. “Any impact will disappear in a few days,” he said.
Eternal Reefs says the money the likes of Hock pay for the underground soccer balls – which range in price from $3,000 to $7,500 (£2,200 – £5,500) – helps fund more artificial reefs. “We consider ourselves reef builders. [That’s] What are our goals,” said George Frankel, CEO of Eternal Reefs. “And we’re using the memorial as a tool.”
It is not the only such project in the ocean: the company behind Neptune . Memorial Reef, in Florida, says it “creates life after life” in the ocean and also offers concrete memorials and cremated remains, priced from $1,295, to create out funding. “Building a reef costs a lot of money,” said Jim Hutslar, the company’s chief operating officer.
Hutslar says the artificial reef is home to 56 species of fish, as well as crabs, sea urchins, sponges and corals. When completed, it will include 250,000 memorials over an area of more than 6.5 hectares (16 acres), making it one of the largest man-made reefs in the world.
The idea was also adopted in Dorset, as part of a plan to attract divers to the county. Two local divers, Marcus Darler and Sean Webb, were authorized by the Crown Estate (Monarchy seabed ownership United Kingdom) to acquire a square kilometer land off the coasts of Weymouth and Portland for a coral reef that will help regenerate local lobster populations, as well as act as a diving spot. “To help with funding, we came up with the idea of Solace Reef‘ said Darler.
With Collins’ help, they created perforated domes from crushed Portland limestone and human ashes. Since 2014, they have deposited 16. After diving around the area, a marine biologist reported: “There is a real diversity of invertebrates that cover the pellets. rock […] it has become a new ecosystem. ”
Both Frankel and Hutslar say many people are interested in replicating the model. “I get calls all the time,” says Frankel. “The problem is they all think it’s a get-rich-quick scheme.” However, he said that “there is no question in my mind that it will be mainstream”.
However, not everyone is convinced. The model still involves cremation, on average, emits 400kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for each body. Rosie Inman-Cook, manager of Natural death center charity organization. “Cremation is a disaster.”
Artificial reefs also use concrete, the production of which is responsible for up to 8% of global CO2 emissions. According to Michael Steinke, a marine biologist at the University of Essex, concrete has a huge environmental cost, so in that regard, concrete may not be the best idea, if you really care. to the environment. ”
Inman-Cook is wary of what she calls “showy” funeral products and services. Environmental concerns have led to quirky innovations ranging from “Living coffin” made from myceliumto the egg-shaped “seed” jars, Plant a tree on your remains. “It is tinkering with corners, and sees such ideas as a distraction from the more fundamental changes needed,” she said. Inman-Cook says that natural burial is best for the environment.
Hock says she’s also skeptical of some new ideas for burials, but is impressed with the marine life that lives on some of the new reefs and feels it would be less difficult for her family to deal with. take care of a grave.
“The video I watched showed how quickly these bizarre-looking balls were reproduced with fish, so the concept seemed to work,” she said. “It appealed to me – the thought of growing back something that was destroyed.”
