(NECN: Peter Howe) – Living in a corner of the world so defined by its coasts and bays, many New Englanders dream, after their deaths, of the simple majesty of being burined at sea, or their remains scattered to the waters.
That’s something that’s helped Captain Brad White here to build over the last six years a booming business — New England Burials at Sea LLC — that, after many special requests, he’s just formally expanded to include burials of family pets at sea.
“What I’ve found is that when people pass away, and they’d like to be buried at sea, they want to go with Fluffy, or Fido,” said White, himself an owner of three Belgian barge dogs, called Schipperkes, bred to serve as watchdogs, chase off water rats, and work the horses that would tow barges down Belgian canals.
“People that have their dog or cat with them — or parakeet, or even horse, as we’re starting to do equine horse burials at sea — we find that people get closure when they see the cremated remains travel off into the water behind the vessel,” White said.
Working off his 33-foot sportfish picnic boat, White Cap, or other vessels, White and his colleagues set an informal altar to hold an urn of remains before they are scattered and use a Plimoth Plantation antique handbell to ring “eight bells,” the nautical end-of-watch signal. Services start at around $95 for pets and $395 for humans for a simple 20-minute ride out to the three-mile federal waters limit to dispose of ashes, and can include more involved services with videography, flowers, and other services. White, who used to handle product development and store openings for the high-end Sharper Image, has even designed a biodegradable canvas shroud for full-body animal burials at sea. As with a human version, it is weighted down with cannonballs made by the same factory that makes them for the U.S.S. Constitution in Charlestown, also known as “Old Ironsides,” to ensure the body sinks, and the shroud itself decomposes along with the body in three to six months. Bear in mind, it requires substantial government approvals to do this — a Coast Guard license as a master captain to take people to see, plus an Environmental Protection Agency permit to dispose of bodies in federal waters. Through partners in ports along the East Coast, he’s offering at-sea burials to customers from Maine to Miami.
Two numbers that give an indication of how big a business this could become: Every year about 2.5 million people die in America, but it’s estimated probably 11 or 12 million pets do. At the same time, over the last 25 years, estimates of how many Americans choose to have their bodies cremated have risen from 12 to 15 percent to now as many as 60 percent. With more and more families spreading across the country, interring remains in a cemetery family members would have a hard time travelling to visit may be less emotionally meaningful than a ceremony placing the ashes for eternity at a special place. For someone who keeps the ashes of a beloved pet in an urn, choosing to have those ashes scattered in the sea when their own ashes go there too just may have a special appeal.
“It’s beautiful,” White says. “When the cremated remains go in the water, they leave here from Boston or Cape Cod, they go up to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, over to Europe … ”
With videographer David Jacobs.
Article originally posted at www.necn.com
Kkpyca
order generic fenofibrate 200mg fenofibrate ca fenofibrate cost
Acpdsr
cheap cialis sale purchase cialis pills viagra 100mg england
Pyijcl
order ketotifen 1 mg generic ziprasidone online order order tofranil sale
Vxmntf
order mintop online cheap tadalafil generic mens ed pills
Mcpjjy
buy acarbose 50mg generic prandin online order fulvicin for sale
Mwwmvu
aspirin pill where to buy hydroquinone without a prescription zovirax without prescription
Tizfsg
buy dipyridamole 100mg without prescription pravastatin 20mg tablet pravachol 10mg without prescription
Rdymch
meloset 3 mg over the counter buy norethindrone sale danocrine canada
Vmevlc
buy dydrogesterone 10mg for sale sitagliptin 100mg ca buy empagliflozin 10mg
Lmldbg
florinef order online aciphex 20mg over the counter buy imodium pills
Ejtwuh
order etodolac sale purchase mebeverine generic purchase cilostazol generic
Hdiryr
order prasugrel 10mg chlorpromazine 50 mg ca order detrol online cheap
Mpvanq
ferrous 100mg without prescription buy ferrous 100 mg online betapace 40 mg cost
Mrfsbx
order pyridostigmine pyridostigmine over the counter order rizatriptan online
Pjilfd
buy vasotec 10mg without prescription buy bicalutamide 50 mg generic lactulose for sale online
Ykzbna
zovirax buy online xeloda order online rivastigmine buy online
Hqgddc
betahistine 16mg brand buy generic haldol generic probenecid
Qthdug
premarin usa purchase sildenafil sale viagra sildenafil 50mg
Pyenjd
omeprazole 20mg pills montelukast 5mg oral metoprolol drug
Okiesc
micardis uk where to buy hydroxychloroquine without a prescription order molnupiravir pills
Katvwc
cialis 10mg cheap buy viagra 50mg online cheap order sildenafil pill
Nngmmj
order cenforce 50mg for sale cenforce 100mg tablet buy aralen 250mg online
Bmitnp
buy modafinil 200mg sale order promethazine 25mg online buy deltasone pill
Jaclsu
how to get omnicef without a prescription cheap metformin buy lansoprazole generic
Xqvchk
accutane 10mg sale buy azithromycin 250mg generic zithromax where to buy
Cqyeut
buy generic atorvastatin over the counter buy norvasc paypal amlodipine generic
Jyuuwp
azipro 500mg tablet buy neurontin generic buy gabapentin 800mg online cheap
Okyysw
roulette free roulette casino buy furosemide generic
Bgmdhf
buy pantoprazole for sale order lisinopril 10mg generic pyridium for sale
Lvirup
san manuel casino online albuterol pill albuterol brand
Eiglaq
casino moons online casino casino real money ivermectin buy
Vgknnl
symmetrel cheap tenormin 50mg usa order dapsone online cheap
Jzlnvp
slots online online blackjack with real money levoxyl generic
Cuzvfm
buy generic clomiphene buy clomid 50mg buy imuran online cheap
Lkadho
medrol 4 mg oral buy triamcinolone online aristocort without prescription
Gebsoq
vardenafil ca levitra 10mg pill buy tizanidine for sale
Aejvgd
buy perindopril 8mg for sale order clarinex online cheap buy fexofenadine pills
Yzevvx
buy dilantin 100mg pill buy cyclobenzaprine generic oxybutynin online
Ziclwq
order baclofen 10mg online baclofen for sale online toradol drug
Sddetk
buy generic loratadine for sale purchase priligy online cheap order priligy sale
Bclppd
buy lioresal online purchase ozobax order toradol online cheap
Kdshxh
fosamax online buy purchase alendronate order macrodantin 100mg pills
Mpbrur
glimepiride 1mg for sale glimepiride 4mg sale buy etoricoxib 120mg pill
Icaxkx
brand inderal inderal oral clopidogrel sale
Dmodmy
pamelor 25mg for sale acetaminophen 500 mg brand buy generic panadol over the counter
Nrthyf
warfarin 2mg brand oral coumadin 5mg oral reglan 20mg
Zdrunz
buy generic orlistat 120mg purchase diltiazem pill cheap diltiazem
Kxmxws
pepcid ca pepcid 20mg without prescription order prograf 5mg without prescription
Rsxnen
azelastine 10ml cost buy acyclovir 800mg online cheap avalide pill
Bflzif
buy nexium 40mg for sale buy mirtazapine buy topamax 200mg generic