Atlantis Memorial Reef - Key Biscayne, Florida
The Neptune Memorial Reef Cemetery. (Flickr/Todd Murray)
Finding a final resting place for the deceased is more challenging than it might seem, especially considering the limited amount of space on Earth and the extreme geography and climate of some locations. And although the recently departed may be beyond any worldly cares, the cemeteries they call their resting place are far from being immune to the outside world. “The weather’s effect can be as subtle as ice slivering monuments after years of winter,” said Loren Rhoads, the author of Wish You Were Here: Adventures in Cemetery Travel, in an interview with Weather.com. ”It can also be catastrophic, like the flooding of Metairie Cemetery, between Lake Ponchartrain and New Orleans, when the levees broke after Hurricane Katrina,” Rhoads said.
She added that weather isn’t the only threat cemeteries face — they can also become overcrowded and run out of room for new burials. The following examples show some of the unique ways societies have dealt with climate and overcrowding when it comes to finding a home for the deceased.
The largest manmade reef in the world, the Neptune Memorial Reef, is also an underwater mausoleum that will cover 16 acres of bare ocean floor with statues and tombstones once it’s been completed. Located three miles off the coast of Key Biscayne, the graveyard is only 40 feet below the surface of the water, allowing divers swim among statues and sea life to visit deceased family members. According to the Public News Service, divers go down with ashes mixed with cement and place the mixture in the selected location. In an interview with the Guardian, artist Kim Brandell said the structures are 90 percent cement, with some bronze and steel, and all the structures have the same pH balance as the sea. The project had to meet the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Department before moving ahead. Keith Miller, an environmental specialist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, told the Guardian he was impressed with the environment the cemetery created for divers. The cost for placement is $2,600 to $4,000, and there are 1,200 spots in the initial development, reported the Los Angeles Times.