Reefer Madness

As the semester comes to a close, I'm sure you're all looking for things to do. If you have snorkeling or diving gear – which you should, since we live in Florida – you can check out one of the most bizarre places I've ever heard of: the Neptune Memorial Reef off the coast of Miami. Yes, it's an artificial reef filled with dead people.

The reef is shaped like an ancient, underwater city but has the cremated remains of many deceased people in its columns and other architecture. I'm not sure why someone would pay a minimum of $1,500 to bury someone in the ocean when ashes can be tossed for a fraction of the cost. The only upside I can see is that this method won't get you fined for littering.

Anyway, the production of artificial reefs – with or without dead people – has become popular after the destruction of coral reefs by boats, erosion and, our favorite inconvenient truth, climate changes. Natural reefs are formed when coral, which is a sea anemone-like creature, attaches itself to a sea-floor rock. The coral then divides and conquers the area, and it becomes a massive living organism.

Given that coral takes a long time to grow, artificial reefs aim to speed up the process by giving marine plants a structure to grow on, instead of just waiting for the reef to take a shape of its own. Some of the world's reefs have been around for over 50 million years, according to National Geographic.

And you can't just make a reef out of anything. I'm sure you remember the reef made out of old tires that used to be off the coast of Broward County. Really, I don't see the appeal about a reef made out of 2 million tires, but apparently they thought it was a good idea in the '70s – then again, people in the 1970s also thought rocks would make great pets.

The problem with the tires was that they would be swept away during storms and strong currents. This would cause them to collide with and destroy existing marine structures, such as – drum roll – coral reefs. They also just looked like an underwater tray of doughnuts, which isn't that spectacular.

To get a tour of the Neptune reef – which should have been called Atlantis, after the famous sinking city – without having to dig up your scuba gear, click here to see a video of the cremation reef. I'm not sure why, but the video made me laugh. Maybe it's the music. Or that the fish look strangely out of place.

If you don't plan to venture out into the hot December sun but would still like to experience dead people, you can go see Bodies: The Exhibition at Las Olas from the comfort of air conditioning. Be careful, though: you might learn something.