A sea burial is when a boat takes a coffin out to sea and puts it into the water. This means the sea bed becomes someone's final resting place, as a specific kind of coffin is used to make sure it sinks. The body will then break down and become part of the ocean.
"However we've found that in highly oxygenated deeper water, it can be expected that such a body would be skeletonised in less than four days, although bones could be recovered for six months or more." How quickly you decompose also depends on the time of year.
The skin will absorb water and peel away from the underlying tissues in about a week and fish, crabs and sea lice will nibble away at the flesh. Cold water also encourages the formation of adipocere. This is a waxy, soapy substance formed from the fat in the body that partially protects the body against decomposition.
Burials at sea—loaded in Australia or performed from an Australian vessel or aircraft—require a permit. The permit application form must be completed and sent with a copy of the death certificate and the application fee.
Non-cremated casketed remains
If using a casket, plastic materials should be removed from the casket before burial at sea because plastic materials do not degrade and may create unacceptable marine debris. A metal casket, as used by the United States Navy, should be considered.
Drilling Holes in the Casket
A whole body burial at sea should be carried out in a way that the biodegradable coffin sinks down to the bottom rapidly. For fast sinking, the casket needs to have holes on its sides. As per the regulations, a casket should have twenty two-inch holes drilled into it.
Perhaps your loved one was a keen fisher or had an affinity with the ocean or beach? You generally don't need permission to scatter cremated ashes at most Australian beaches or coastlines. However, you will need to comply with local environmental protection authority guidelines.
Local Council approval is required for a burial on private land. The burial must not contaminate a drinking water supply and other conditions may apply to the approval. Applicants are advised to contact the council where the burial is to take place to confirm local council rules, and to obtain the necessary approval.
The body will be placed in a cremated coffin, which goes into the crematorium. The coffin and body are heated until they turn to ash. The leftover bone matter will be pulverized into ash as well.
In warm, shallow water, decomposition works quickly, surfacing a corpse within two or three days. But cold water slows decay, and people who drown in deep lakes, 30 metres or below, may never surface.
During cremation, the body parts that do burn consist of organs, soft tissue, hair, and skin, while the water in our bodies evaporates. The body parts that do not burn are bone fragments. Teeth usually burn during cremation, but not entirely.
And if the body is floating in water less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) for about three weeks, the tissues turn into a soapy fatty acid known as "grave wax" that halts bacterial growth. The skin, however, will still blister and turn greenish black.
The usual postmortem changes of vascular marbling, dark discoloration of skin and soft tissue, bloating, and putrefaction occur in the water as they do on land though at a different rate, particularly in cold water (4).
After 1 month, the liquefaction process commences. During this stage the body loses the most mass. The muscles, organs and skin are liquefied, with the cadaver's bones, cartilage and hair remaining at the end of this process.
In addition, the type of water differentially affected the rate of decomposition, as the carcasses in saltwater decomposed much more slowly than the carcasses placed in freshwater.
The process starts with embalming. Embalming is a process that involves replacing bodily fluid and blood with a formaldehyde-based solution. This is performed to preserve and disinfect the body. The embalmed body will then be placed inside of the coffin ready for burial.
Funeral costs by state
A basic funeral is the simplest type of funeral and typically includes the essential services. The research found that the average cost of a basic burial in Australia is $8,048, while the average cost of a basic cremation in Australia is $3,108.
Once a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death has been issued, a body can be buried. There are three choices of burial site: a public cemetery, a private cemetery, or private land. To bury a body on private land, the land must be greater than five hectares in area and the approval of the Local Council must be obtained.
Cremation of a body can be done with or without clothing. Typically, if there has been a traditional funeral (with the body) present, the deceased will be cremated in whatever clothing they were wearing.
Some people worry it's bad luck to keep ashes in their house, or it might mean the spirit or ghost of the person will stay in the house. Whatever your beliefs, there is no right or wrong when it comes to handling the ashes of a person who's died.
Perhaps you want to take your loved one back home for a memorial service, or scatter them in a special holiday spot, but you aren't sure if it's allowed. Well, the answer is yes. There are no legislative requirements in relation to taking cremated remains across Australia or overseas.
If the grave site is low on water content or moisture, metal caskets are known to last even longer, over five decades. Under favorable weather conditions, experts say that metal caskets may even last more than that – up to 80 years.
Therefore, graves were always dug six feet deep to prevent body snatchers from gaining access to the buried remains. Another issue that people were worried about was animals digging up graves. An ancient practice of burying dead people six feet underground may have helped mask the odor of decay from predators.
The body takes between ten to fifteen years to decay to a point where you may just find bones, teeth and hair remaining in the casket. There may also be some excess tissue and clothing fibers that withstood the ten years of decay.