Sea burials rare but possible for those willing to face the obstacles

Australia Broadcast Center

20 hours ago

In the past decade, just 15 sea burial permits have been granted in Australia for people who wished to find their final resting place in the deep blue ocean.
In some states, such as Tasmania, no sea burial permits have been granted since electronic records started in 1997.
Travis Hamilton recently took on the "huge" challenge of fulfilling his dad Alan's burial wishes.
Mr Hamilton said his father was a visionary with an unconventional approach to life, who held a lifelong wish to be interred at sea.
Alan's send-off in April, 120 kilometres off the coast of Portland in Victoria, fulfilled that wish.
He was the first Victorian in a decade to be buried at sea.
It took 4.5 hours by boat to reach what became Alan's final resting place in the Southern Ocean.
As the sun rose that morning, his body, wrapped in a natural shroud, was secured to a specially made wooden platform on a boat.
A small group of family was there for the final farewell, supported by funeral staff and the boat's crew.
They faced challenging 3-metre swells to reach the chosen location.
But when they arrived, it was "eerily calm" and the "perfect" patch of blue.
Alan's shrouded and weighted body quickly disappeared after being released into the sea.
A biodegradable wreath and letters from family and friends were thrown into the ocean afterwards, and the boat traced a circle of honour around the burial site.
Mr Hamilton said dolphins broke the surface of the water near the vessel soon after they departed.
"It was spectacular, it was beautiful; I'd say it was joyous," Mr Hamilton told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Mr Hamilton began researching sea burials when his father shared his desire for one in about 2020.
He quickly realised how many challenges he'd have to overcome to achieve it.
"When I told dad all of these challenges … he just smiled and said, 'Well, that's what I want,'" Mr Hamilton said.
A state and federal permit was required for Alan's sea burial, which had to be done at a location with a depth of no less than 3,000 metres.
To reach a patch of water of that depth, his body had to be transported beyond Australia's continental shelf.
A chartered boat made the journey, requiring a captain willing to participate who then needed permits for the boat to travel the required distance and additional safety gear onboard.
Portland is the closest port to the continental shelf in Victoria, and so became the location for departure.
This required collaboration with a local funeral home to ensure Alan's body could be kept in a climate-controlled environment following transit from metropolitan Melbourne.
Funeral operator Simon Mummé said many roadblocks and logistical challenges were overcome to ensure the burial could happen.
He advised others organising a sea burial to start planning as early as possible, allowing time to overcome the many obstacles that must be faced.
Embalming of the body, as is typically done, is prohibited for a sea burial.
Mr Mummé said Alan's body could only be bathed and washed, then was kept in a climate-controlled environment to slow nature's processes.
The shroud had to be biodegradable and weighted, Mr Mummé opted for iron weights over lead to reduce the environmental impact.
Crucially, written consent from the deceased is needed.
A formal letter or information in a will expressing the desire for a sea burial is essential.
Mr Mummé said he was advised that online information stating the deceased must have a strong connection to the sea was not true or current.
Alan did not have a strong connection to the sea, but liked to fish occasionally.
A sea burial can cost upwards of $35,000 and the date must be flexible to allow for poor weather.
If the cost or need for flexibility is prohibitive, there are alternatives that provide a connection to the sea.
Funeral director Kimba Griffith once worked with clients attempting to fulfil a friend's wish for a sea burial, but ultimately advised them to choose a different option.
"We found a charter company who would do it and we also found a funeral director in Warrnambool who would assist," she said.
For alternative memorials or burials, Ms Griffith suggested returning a person's ashes to the water using a biodegradable urn, made from sand and vegetable matter.
A coastal drive-by in a hearse, during which family and friends gather to toast the person, is another idea.
A paddle out, where ashes are scattered by a group on surfboards or a vessel, is another popular choice.
Lady Nelson tall ship master Astrid Wilson likes the simple but meaningful gesture of scattering ashes at sea.
Ms Wilson has attended many memorials in a professional and personal capacity, where ashes were scattered from a boat or ship.
No permit is required to scatter ashes in the ocean or water in Australia.
Ms Wilson advised caution when scattering ashes, to ensure they did not blow back on participants.
Ashes did blow back during an emotional memorial she once attended on a large ferry.
Ms Wilson said she believed the person being remembered would have seen the humour in it.
"It was for a chick who worked on Bass Strait her whole life — she was quite young — and cancer took her," she said.
"She just wanted to go back to where she felt her happiest, which was at work on a ship on Bass Strait.
"It was so special … she [her ashes] did swirl around and end up on the boat, but it was really good because it was just part of her."
Mr Hamilton said he felt a huge sense of relief in being able to fulfil his dad Alan's final wish for a sea burial.
Through his father's burial, and his own journey working in the funeral industry, he said he had learnt the importance of ritual.
"Even if someone is cremated, the act of going out and having some sort of ceremony is really important," Mr Hamilton said.