Reef burials

Reef burials are a new burial practice gaining a degree of popularity. Rather than being buried in the earth, a person's remains are cremated and the resulting ash is mixed with pH-balanced concrete to create structures which are placed on the seabed to help restore marine habitats similar to a coral reef.^[3][4] The concrete is mixed using fibreglass rather than metal, so that it does not rust and has the same pH balance as the sea.^[4][5] In areas where the seafloor or coral reefs have been destroyed the structures help to renew the sea-life by establishing new habitats for fish and crustaceans.^[6][7] The structures are expected to last for 500 years and are variously perforated domes called "reef balls", pyramids, or similar memorial-style shapes chosen to be appropriate to the location. Reef balls weigh between 800 and 4,000 pounds (360 and 1,810 kg) and their perforations ensure that storm pressure doesn't move them out of place on the sea floor.^[8]

Reef burials are popular amongst divers and others who love the sea. Some people feel that such burials offer the deceased a second life as part of a living reef.^[8] Loved ones are given the GPS coordinates of the resting place so that they dive to visit the site of the remains.^[9][10] A memorial plaque is installed with the person's name, date of birth and death.^[4] Thousands of reef balls are put into oceans each year. Large reef memorials can accommodate multiple sets of remains, so that families can be included and placed together.^[8]

In the United States there are more than thirty permitted locations for reef memorials, including off the coasts of Florida at Mexico Beach,^[11] Egg Harbor, near Atlantic City, New Jersey and Texas.^[10] In the UK, where the Crown Estate owns the UK seabed, a square-kilometre site off the coast of Weymouth and Portland has been designated for this use in the 'Wreck to Reef' area,^[12] with a particular focus on creating structures to shelter young lobsters until their shells grow.^[3][13][14] Artificial reef balls were first used at Jurien reef in Western Australia in 2015.^[15] In Bali, Resting Reef operates two memorial sites in areas severely affected by unsustainable fishing and coral mining. These reefs aim to restore marine ecosystems and create job opportunities for local residents.^[16]

In 2019, the first reef burials were placed in the water using a crane in the Venice lagoon in Italy.^[5]

Despite growing popularity, the process still involves both cremation and concrete, both of which carry an environmental cost.^[3] Cremation, depending on the age of the crematorium, releases around 540 pounds (240 kg) of CO₂ and the concrete sector is responsible for 8 percent of global CO₂ production.^[17]