Burials at sea with flowers and other ceremonial features can be a loving and beautiful send off for anyone with a love for the ocean. The rhythm of the waves creates a peaceful and serene final resting place. There are several ways a commitment to the ocean can take place. Ceremonies may involve scattering the ashes of a loved one who has been cremated or may involve non cremated remains in a casket. It may take place aboard a ship or in an aircraft. Customs and traditions vary with geography and religious beliefs.

Different countries have different regulations regarding maritime funerals and burials. Burials at sea require that the scattering of ashes occur at least 3 miles offshore. Committing a non cremated body to the ocean is allowed if the water is at least 600 feet deep. Additional regulations exist for caskets and urns. These are general guidelines. Different areas may have more strict or more lenient regulations. Steps are taken to make the experience as beautiful and memorable as possible. These steps usually involve unregulated touches such as burials at sea with flowers or other organic items. In fact, some site seeing catamaran vessels can actually serve as a whale watching monterey ship to a memorial ship from voyage to voyage.

Different religions handle this endeavor in different ways. Buddhists seldom engage in this activity with their deceased. This religion places a heavy emphasis on a physical gravesite. This is important in many of their rites. Hinduism permits burials at sea with flowers only with the permission of a Hindi priest. Islam and Judaism also both prefer burials to take place on solid ground. Within Christianity, several viewpoints are held. The Roman Catholic Church is generally against scattering remains at sea or anywhere else and put an emphasis on rosaries where various forms of beads and diamonds are strung together over and around the body. They prefer the body of someone who has passed on to be buried or otherwise entombed. The Protestant faction of the Christian faith allows it to happen but does have some procedures outlined.

Many burials at sea with flowers and other rituals take place as a result of service in the United States Navy. These types of commitments take place in times of war and of peace. In peacetime, the ceremony takes place aboard a deployed ship. This means that no civilians can be in attendance. The ceremony is part military ritual and part religious ritual. The religious portion is handled by a member of the clergy of the deceased individual’s personal religion. In wartime, efforts are made to have the burial be as close to possible as the peacetime version.