Announcing the Open National Ash Scattering Registry

Burial at Sea, Ocean Ash Scattering, Green Burial

Aug 26

Written By Brett McGhee

National ash scattering registry map of ocean memorials

Add A Memorial

Search The Map

Families ask me the same question more than any other:

“How do I find the place again?”

After a scattering, you leave with a certificate and a set of GPS coordinates. Years later a sister wants to look it up. A grandchild wants to stand on a beach and know which way to face. A friend of the family only has a name.

Until now there was no public place in the United States to search a sea scattering by name and see it on a map.

Today Ocean Ashes is opening one.

The Open National Ash Scattering Registry is a free, public map of memorials at sea. Search a loved one’s name. See the GPS. Record a scattering from any coast — whether the ceremony was with Ocean Ashes or with someone else.

Search the map · Add a memorial

What the registry is

It is not a cemetery. It is not a paid listing. It is a public record.

Each pin is a person: a name, the years of a life, the date the ashes went into the water, and the coordinates taken at the ceremony. Anyone can search. Anyone with those facts can ask us to place a pin.

We built it because the ocean is a living memorial — and a living memorial still needs a way to be found.

Ocean Ashes ceremonies already go on this map. So can a scattering done by another captain, another family, another coast. Florida, Texas, California, New England. Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic. If you have the name and the GPS, it belongs here.

How to search for a loved one

Open the National Scattering Registry.
Click Search the map.
In the map’s search box, type the name.
Select the pin. The balloon shows the years, the date of scattering, the body of water, and the GPS.

If the name is a common one, add a middle name or the year they died. Couples are listed under each name so either person can be found.

You do not need an account to search. There is no fee.

How to add a memorial

If you have a certificate, pull it out. The name, the years, the date, and the GPS are already on it.

Go to Add a memorial on the registry page.
Enter the loved one’s full name as it should appear on the map.
Add the year born and year died, if you have them.
Enter the date of the scattering.
Enter latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. West longitude is a negative number — for example 27.673 and -82.796.
Name the water and, if you know it, the nearest port or city (“off St. Pete Beach, FL”).
Add a short line for the map if you want one. Keep it to a sentence.
Leave your name, email, and phone so we can reach you.
Submit.

We review every request, then place the pin. You will get an email when it is live. We do this by hand so the map stays accurate and respectful.

If the form is a lot of typing, email the same details to brett@oceanashes.com or call/text (727) 362-6393.

What you need before you submit

Loved one’s full name
Year born and year died (years are enough)
Date of scattering
GPS in decimal degrees (from the certificate)
Body of water
Your contact information

You do not need to have used Ocean Ashes. This is an open registry.

If you do not have GPS — only a story about “off Clearwater” or “somewhere near Destin” — write to us anyway. We can often place the pin near the waters that were used, and note that the exact point is remembered, not surveyed.

Why we are doing this

I have stood on the back of the Sea Ray with hundreds of families. I write the coordinates on every certificate because that number is the last known place.

Paper gets lost. Phones get replaced. The next generation should still be able to type a name and find the water.

A cemetery has a directory. The ocean should have one too.

The registry is also how we keep our own record honest. Every Ocean Ashes scattering — St. Pete Beach, Destin, St. Augustine, Islamorada, Galveston — goes on the map with the same GPS that is on the certificate.

Privacy

The map shows a name, years, a date, a place, and coordinates. It does not show your address, your phone, or a photo unless you later ask us to add one.

If you placed a pin and want it changed or taken down, email brett@oceanashes.com. We will do it.

We review submissions before they go public. That keeps the registry from becoming a bulletin board.

If you still need a ceremony

The registry is for scatterings that have already happened.

If you are still deciding, we can help with that too. Ocean Ashes performs EPA-compliant ceremonies at least 3 nautical miles offshore, with GPS on the certificate, from our flagship in Saint Petersburg / St. Pete Beach and through captains in Destin, St. Augustine, Islamorada, and Galveston.

View packages — unattended from $189, private cruise $595
Families in New York, Ohio, and California fly in, or ship the ashes
Veterans: 10% off, and a free monthly scattering
We serve families from every state

Call or text Captain Brett at (727) 362-6393.

Questions we are already getting

Is it really free? Yes. Search is free. Adding a memorial is free.

Can I add a scattering that was not Ocean Ashes? Yes. Any sea scattering, any captain, any coast, as long as you have the name and the coordinates.

What if I only have degrees-minutes-seconds on an old certificate? Send it to us. We will convert it to decimal degrees and place the pin.

Will the pin move with the Gulf Stream? No. The pin is the place of release — the coordinates written the day of the ceremony. The water carries them from there. That is the point.

Is this the same as the EPA burial-at-sea report? No. The EPA burial-at-sea rules are the law we follow offshore. The registry is a family directory so people can find a name.