Today’s Ages-Old Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
The body of a man found in a fishing net off Cape Cod in November, 2007 turned out to be part of an ages-old but vanishing funeral rite: full-body burial at sea. The remains of the unidentified man had been properly disposed in March 2001, according to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, who refused to release the man’s identity. The body was pulled up in the net of an 80-foot Boston-based commercial vessel, the Guardian, at 7:15 a.m., 20 miles off Nauset Beach. The remains were handed over to the Coast Guard. The identity of the deceased man was made at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Boston through markings on the body and X-ray comparisons, according to the district attorney’s office. The man was one of only two people buried in full body rites at sea within the past seven years in waters off New England, according to Ann Rodney of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Boston office. The EPA regulates ocean burials, requiring that full-body services be conducted at least 3 nautical miles from shore in waters at least 600 feet deep. The corpse was in good condition, according to Walsh, with skin and face still intact. The only thing missing was a foot, he said. “I cannot believe it was in the water for six years,” Walsh said. O’Keefe said the circumstances of the burial were such that it is “very understandable” that the body would be in good shape. He declined to disclose any more about the circumstances of the burial out of respect for the family’s privacy. The EPA recommends that bodies are buried according to Navy guidelines. Navy vessels transport a veteran’s body in a metal casket secured with bands, weighted with rocks or other ballast, and drilled with holes to make sure the casket sinks properly. The Navy recommends embalming a corpse before burials at sea.
Culled from: CapeCodOnline.Com
Generously submitted by: Amos Quito
So, what do you think the “circumstances of the burial” were that the body would be in good shape after 6 years? Was he dipped in plastic before being tossed overboard?
I’ve heard that in very cold water, it’s not surprising for a body to remain intact for quite some time. Maybe just burial in a very cold part of the ocean?
As some one who grew up in New England, the water is pretty damn cold year round. I am sure the cold helped in preserving the body. If it was deep enough there wouldn’t be as much oxygen or bottom feeders to ahem disturb it. Perhaps off the grand banks shelf.
Puts me in mind of “The Perfect Storm.” Thos guys are probably still down there, off the Grand Banks somewhere.