A beautiful way to memorialize a loved one, these Eternal Reef reef balls are helping to rebuild ecosystems along miles and miles of the southeastern US shore.
credit: eternalreefs.com
The concept is both straightforward and beautifully innovative: the cremated remains of your friend, family member, or pet are mixed into their special concrete blend to create what they call a “pearl”, which you are invited to customize with handprints, shells, and any mementos that will not react with or harm the ocean environment. After it is set and cured, the pearl is concreted into the center of a reef ball, which is then placed in one of the organization’s artificial reef sites; they are located off the coasts of Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina,Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas.
The round, hollow, vented reef balls have proven themselves to be an ideal shape for encouraging fish, coral, invertebrates, and other organisms to take up residence, and they are extremely stable in the ocean environment, as 80% of the ball’s weight is in the lower 25% of the structure. Scientists first experimented with this shape 24 years ago, and they have been using a version of it ever since.
Eternal Reefs works alongside the Reef Ball Foundation, an international environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) with projects in over 70 countries; they have deployed over 700,000 reef balls to date. Both The Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations , which works with the Reef Ball Foundation worldwide to establish new habitats for fish and other sea life, are strategic partners with Eternal Reefs.
The entire Reef Ball family of companies is “committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing the marine environment for future generations”.
This review as for concerned individuals regarding the business practices of Eternal Reefs, Inc., a company that offers environmentally-themed burial-at-sea services using reef balls.
While their mission appears commendable, we have encountered several practices that we believe warrant closer scrutiny:
Use of Grieving Families in Marketing:
Eternal Reefs features grieving families in promotional materials. We find this ethically questionable, as it exploits private moments of loss for commercial gain.
Full Payment Required for Waitlist:
Families are required to pay the full service amount to be added to a waiting list — sometimes years in advance. This raises concerns about financial transparency.
Pre-Need Payments Not Held in Escrow:
We were informed that deposits or prepayments are not placed in escrow or in the State of Florida’s insurance fund for pre-need funeral and burial services. Its not required by law but the practice questions ethics of the operation.
Interstate Pre-Need Deposits:
We are also investigating whether Eternal Reefs accepts pre-need deposits from out-of-state customers and whether such transactions comply with both Florida and federal regulations.
Customer review:
Eternal Reefs’ practices concerning pre-need contracts, deposit handling, and waitlist protocols. Ask your family attorney to investigate these practices or contact the agencies listed below.
Clarify whether Eternal Reefs is authorized to accept out of state pre-need deposits and whether such deposits should be held in trust or escrow.
We believe that grieving families deserve clarity, transparency, and dignity — not financial ambiguity or emotional exploitation.
Questions for:
Florida Attorney General’s Office:
Online Complaint Form: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Citizen_Services
Consumer Protection Division Phone: 1-866-9NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226)
Florida Division of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services:
Website: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/funeralcemetery/