Sea Reef Burial

تدفین در صخره آبی

Sustainability •Water •Recycling •
Posted by Rezwan • May 12, 2009 • (1) Comments •
Printer friendly • • مطلب را به بالاترین بفرستید: Balatarin

A new trend: Geen burials in which "A crane lowers a 400-pound memorial reef ball containing cremated remains into place 30 feet below to the bottom of the [sea]"

This is "the ultimate act of environmentalism, giving of the self back to nature in a direct way. In life and in death, we can quite literally go green, whether by land or sea."

Iran has two bodies of water, three, really. Caspian, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. So this reef burial trend may apply.

Environmental Issues

What are the environmental issues surrounding reefs in the above bodies of water? Do we have reef decay problems? Of course. Do we have reef restoration and artificial reef projects? Not sure. Do we need them? Probably.

We have mangrove forest issues on Qeshm Island, including afforestation projects. Here is a pdf from UNESCO on coral reefs and marine ecosystems in Iran. I've got to get more info on the aquatic habitat scene. Hang on! How about the Iranian National Center for Oceanography? Now to see if we can extract useful information from the site. What tiny font it uses.

Back to reef balls. Can we incorporate them in our plans? These reef balls are, apparently, good for habitat creation, erosion mitigation. From their sales brochure:

Reef Balls are a scientifically proven concrete artificial reef unit now being used in over 59 countries to enhance, protect and rehabilitate reefs and beaches.

The key to their success is that they mimic natural reefs in form and function, quickly increasing fish numbers and diversity as well as being rapidly colonised by corals, algae and sponges.

Social Issues

What about Islamic burial practices? Is burial at sea in a 400 pound memorial reef ball religiously acceptable?

Note that you don't HAVE to bury someone with the reef ball. You can just get regular reef balls with no bodies in them and make artificial reefs. I hope I haven't turned people off to the reef ball idea just because of the corpse association.

Reef ball. Jimmy Hoffa did this decades ago. Now we'll all be sleeping with the fishes.

Here's a reef ball after a few years at sea: