Off Florida, underwater burial ground offers aquatic lifeline | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
December 02, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2023
Off Florida, underwater burial ground offers aquatic lifeline

USA

BSS/AFP
19 November, 2022, 10:30 am
Last modified: 19 November, 2022, 10:32 am

Related News

  • Florida governor bans pro-Palestinian student group
  • Hurricane Idalia lashes Florida, then weakens and turns fury on Georgia
  • Hurricane Idalia strengthens en route to Florida, threatening dangerous storm surge
  • Florida gunman thwarted at Black college before store shooting
  • Florida gunman driven by racial 'hate' kills 3

Off Florida, underwater burial ground offers aquatic lifeline

BSS/AFP
19 November, 2022, 10:30 am
Last modified: 19 November, 2022, 10:32 am
While taking a photo, Sikder Ahmed focuses mainly on colour and wants people to feel a deep resonance when they see his photography. Photo: Sikder Ahmed
While taking a photo, Sikder Ahmed focuses mainly on colour and wants people to feel a deep resonance when they see his photography. Photo: Sikder Ahmed

Divers swim near brightly colored fish and a stingray as they ride warm currents to the seafloor off Florida's coast, where an underwater burial site for ocean lovers doubles as a marine sanctuary brimming with aquatic life.

With its graceful concrete arches, columns, plaques and other monuments and artwork covered in sea anemones, coral and algae, the Neptune Memorial Reef has transformed a non-descript patch into an elegant columbarium that is an example of a growing worldwide trend.

Construction of the unlikely burial site began in 2007 in shallow waters some five kilometers (three miles) east of Miami. The initial plan was to install an artificial reef that would serve as a refuge for aquatic fauna of the area.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

However the ashes of famed international chef Julia Child had been interred in the reef three years earlier, and it began evolving into an underwater mausoleum of sorts.

In search of funding for its project, the company creators landed on an idea: market the prospect of an environmentally friendly, undersea final resting place.

With communities around the world seeking greener burial options than traditional cemeteries, underwater memorial gardens have surged in popularity.

Similar projects are operating or in the planning stages in several locations worldwide, including off the coasts of the US states of Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

The process at Neptune involves mixing the ashes of the dead in with the concrete of the columns, statues or other monument structures.

Fifteen years on, the remains of some 1,500 people are interred in the underwater memorial, with another 1,500 having reserved spots for when they die.

Prices range from $7,995 to $29,995, depending on the location and support chosen.

At about 12 meters (40 feet) deep, divers swim between columns, under arches and past statues of lions, starfish, turtles and other marine animals.

On this sunny afternoon some are fixing copper tombstones where several sets of ashes have been placed. One diver checks the coordinates and upon reaching an indicated location, glues the plaque to a concrete beam using epoxy resin.

"Our tagline is creating life after life," Neptune Memorial Reef operations manager Jim Hustler tells AFP after a dive, stressing the environmental aspect of the project.

"We wanted to build a reef that was sustainable, would help replace the reefs that are dying all over the world."

His goal at least in part is being met. More than 190 coral colonies have been installed at Neptune over the space of an acre (0.4 hectares), which is home to 56 species of fish, as well as crabs and other crustaceans, sea urchins and sponges.

"Every texture, shape, profile and depth is all designed to encourage animals to come," explains Hustler, who notes that his project has only just begun.

His company has permission to build on some 16 acres which, once completed, will contain a sprawling series of reefs serving as the final resting place for the ashes of more than 250,000 people.

World+Biz

Florida / Underwater Burial

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A file photo of Election Commission building. Photo: Collected
    Decision to transfer UNOs, OCs based on field level info: EC
  • File photo of Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader
    Taking action for poll-related violence or chaos is EC's responsibility: Quader
  • Dhaka-Cox's Bazar train delayed by a half hour after 'nuts and bolts removed' from rail line
    Dhaka-Cox's Bazar train delayed by a half hour after 'nuts and bolts removed' from rail line

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: TBS
    I am afraid even to post a thank you note on Facebook: Khadija
  • US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken on 10 March 2023. Photo: Reuters
    Remittance dollar surges to Tk123, defying efforts to control it
  • The above shows a pediatric hospital in California in January 2021, when hospitals in the US were hit by a wave of sick children  Photo AFP by Getty Image
    What is White Lung Syndrome? Mysterious pneumonia fast striking children
  • Coxs Bazar express started for Dhakat at 12:40pm on 1 December. Photo: TBS
    Train to the sea: Dhaka-Cox's Bazar rail service begins
  • EU wants Bangladesh to act on labour rights as pledged
    EU wants Bangladesh to act on labour rights as pledged
  • The Merlion and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Photo: Bloomberg
    These are the world's most expensive cities to live in right now

Related News

  • Florida governor bans pro-Palestinian student group
  • Hurricane Idalia lashes Florida, then weakens and turns fury on Georgia
  • Hurricane Idalia strengthens en route to Florida, threatening dangerous storm surge
  • Florida gunman thwarted at Black college before store shooting
  • Florida gunman driven by racial 'hate' kills 3

Features

Photo: Rony Rezaul

Stand out in Style: Explore Apex's Wedding Season Collection

2h | Mode
TBS Illustration

The origins of electoral symbols

9h | Panorama
Jungle Passports: The tales of border societies interacting beyond the lines

Jungle Passports: The tales of border societies interacting beyond the lines

8h | Panorama
TBS Sketch

What Google and Facebook owe news publishers

8h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Bangladesh still unbeaten in Tests in 2023

Bangladesh still unbeaten in Tests in 2023

1h | TBS SPORTS
Bangladesh sets new record in labour exports as year nears end

Bangladesh sets new record in labour exports as year nears end

1h | TBS Today
America's oldest dictionary announces 'Word of the Year'

America's oldest dictionary announces 'Word of the Year'

5h | TBS Stories
Keep some funds for good stocks

Keep some funds for good stocks

5h | TBS Markets
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net