It must be the ultimate in recycling – incorporating your ashes in a concrete ball that then becomes an artifical reef.
And it is all possible off the coast of Western Australia.
It’s an idea members of the Jurien Bay Men’s Shed are hoping catches on.
There are 79 reef balls in place off the community 220km north of Perth, with two so far containing the cremated remains of locals.
Rest in Reef was set up by the men’s shed as part of their artificial reef program. It was approved by the local council and state government after almost two years of red tape.
It began when Gabie Sutherland, widow of past men’s shed member Ron Sutherland, asked that his ashes be incorporated into one of the concrete reef balls being made at the shed.
“It’s been a long hard struggle to get this far,” said project organiser Ian Stiles. The shed has been involved in the artificial reef balls project for about five years, since the local shire decided to pull out several wooden jetties in the bay.
“We asked them if we could use the old piles to attract fish,” Ian said. “Then we eventually got permission from the Department of Parks and Wildlife for an artificial reef in the Jurien Bay Marine Park. “I have been a diver since the 1960s and there was no place where you could swim in the bay and actually see fish.
“Since the artificial reef we have counted more than 51 species including shovel nose sharks, stingrays, octopus, wrasse, leatherjackets and numerous crayfish.”
Ian said the concrete used in the Rest in Reef project was a special blend.
Once a reef ball was lowered on to the ocean floor it did not take long for slime to cover the surface. Then algae attached, followed by mussels, oysters, soft corals and creatures such as sea squirts.
Divers were able to swim along the length of the reef, which starts at a depth of two to six metres. The shed has approval to extend the reef by a further 100 balls over the next three years.
Already, four more families have expressed an interest in incorporating their loved one’s ashes in the deep. The shed expects to charge about $1500 to place ashes in a reef ball.
More than half the proceeds will go toward the shed for equipment and projects.
The rest is divided between the reef ball patent owner and the Jurien Bay Volunteer Marine Rescue Group.
Jurien Bay Men’s Shed, phone Ian Stiles 0427-313-411.
