The ocean holds a special meaning for many people. Often, people choose to scatter ashes at the beach to honor loved ones who were in the Navy, Coastguard, or Marines. Some choose it as a final resting place for fishermen or those who loved the sea. Because these ceremonies differ from typical funerals, many people have questions about how to scatter ashes at the beach.
While you can’t scatter ashes directly on the beach, you can take them onto a boat and scatter them on the open water. Burial at sea is legal as long as you abide by the EPA guidelines under the MPRSA general permit for burial at sea, which states that ashes must be at least 3 nautical miles offshore. We recommend choosing an ash scattering service that operates in compliance with these guidelines. This frees you to focus on your family or friends during the ceremony.
In this post, we offer ideas, poems, prayers, and Bible verses that you can add to your ocean ash scattering.
Table of Contents
Burial at Sea Ceremony Ideas
Prayers for Burial at Sea
Poems for Ocean Ash Scattering
Bible Verses for Ocean Burial
A burial at sea stands as the perfect way to reflect on the lives and loves of individuals who felt a special connection with oceans and seashores.
Burial at Sea Ceremony Ideas
Burial-at-sea ceremonies can be conducted together at the dock before setting out to sea, or at some other designated location. With attended burial-at-sea scatterings, a ceremony could also be held on the boat itself during the trip (observing the boat’s passenger limit).
Scattering Ceremony
Many families will want to take an active part in scattering the ashes of their loved ones. In some ceremonies, someone is designated to release the ashes, while in other ceremonies, guests will take a portion of the ashes to scatter individually. Guests may choose to share something before they release the ashes, or the group may choose to release the separated ashes all at once.
Lighting candles or casting flowers, petals, or wreaths on the water along with the ashes are all lovely choices. This gives the family a beautiful, lasting scene to gaze upon as they finish their ceremony and celebration of life. There may be music played, memories shared and glasses raised in honor of the deceased.
Floating Ceremony
In this ceremony, as opposed to physically scattering the ashes over open water, the cremation ash is placed in a specially designed water-soluble urn. (These can be found on several online sites.) The urns can be simple or very ornate, according to your taste.
After, or as a part of, the memorial, the urn is placed in the water. The urn floats for a couple of minutes before it begins to sink and dissolve. To conclude the ceremony, guests will often toss live flowers, petals, or wreaths into the water as one final tribute.
Prayers for Burial at Sea
The following prayers for a burial at sea ceremony offer hope and comfort.
Burial at Sea
The Book of Common Prayer (1928) of the Protestant Episcopal Church (Source)
Unto Almighty God, we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the deep; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the sea shall give up her dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.
Fisherman’s Prayer
Anonymous
God grant that I may live to fish for another shining day.
But when my final cast is made I then most humbly pray,
When nestled in your landing net as I lay peacefully asleep,
You’ll smile and judge that I’m ‘good enough to keep’.”
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13, KJV (Source)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.
Poems for Ocean Ash Scattering
These poems focus on the beauty of the ocean as a final resting place.
Burial at Sea
By John Companiotte (Source)
There will I lie,
Forever with a moving element,
Not sunk in the leaden earth
Missing the sullen music of whales
For a lullaby to soothe my sleep.
Small fish with vermilion scales,
Haloing wide purple faces, will dart
In and out of my long dream
With no disturbance, their colors
Shimmering and enlivening my eyes
Closed to the pink revelry of dawn.
The swell of the shifting current
Will tug at my stuffed shirt, waking
Me from being human, immersing
My soul in water where first
Life and memory began.
A Fisherman’s Prayer
By Jeannette Hoppes (Source)
God grant me a little more time
To pick up my rod, and cast my line.
Work and worry disappear
When I pick up my fishing gear.
With boat on trailer, I will go
Anywhere the fishing’s not too slow.
Work just doesn’t seem so fine
When I see what’s at the end of my fishing line.
When I am feeble, old and grey
Please don’t take my pole away.
When the Pearly Gates open wide
Please find this old fisherman, one good lake inside!
Burial at Sea
Mrs. L.H. Sigourney (Source)
Down to the unfathom’d realms,
Where hidden fountains flow,
Alone, his silent couch to find,
The child of earth must go.
For him no funeral bell
May weeping friends convene,
Nor dust, to kindred dust be laid
Within the church-yard green.
Farewell! one heavy plunge!
One cleft in ocean’s floor!
Bible Verses for Ocean Burial
These Bible verses celebrate faith and the hope of heaven.
Psalm 107:23-24 (ESV)
“Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep.”
Matthew 5:4 (ESV)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Psalm 46: 1-3 (ESV)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah.”
How to Scatter Ashes at the Beach
To plan a beautiful ocean burial, we recommend choosing a service that follows the MPRSA general permit for burial at sea. Then, you can plan a beautiful service that reflects on the life of your loved one. At Rest Ashured, we offer both attended and unattended burial at sea options.
If you choose an attended ceremony, we will put you in direct contact with a boat captain to schedule the special day and time. On your scheduled day, you will meet him at the boat slip to begin your time on the water.
If you choose an unattended ceremony, the boat captain will respectfully scatter your loved one’s ashes on your behalf. This is typically done within 30 days, and we will inform you on the day of release.
Our sea scattering locations include the Outer Banks, North Carolina, Topsail Island, North Carolina, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
We’re here to make the process as smooth as possible. If you have any questions about how to scatter ashes at the beach, please get in touch with us by calling 434-534-4007 or emailing us info@restashured.com.
