Elephant Mourning

Many people seem to think that humans are the only animal capable of mourning the lose of a loved one. This appears to not be the case. Elephants have been studied for their cognitive abilities, dexterity, their memory, and for their emotional complexity, among other things.  

A lot of evidence has come out which shows that elephants have the capacity to mourn the death of their clan members. Not only do they show signs of bereavement, but in accordance to their prolific memories, they are also known to revisit the death site of former clan members, as well as following ritualistic practices when coming across the bones of their fellow members. National geographic has a short clip which shows several elephants finding the bones of their former matriarch. I have linked the video here. The loss of the matriarch is seen as especially traumatizing, as they hold the collective knowledge of the extended families territory.

Grieving Elephant

They show signs of mourning in a variety of ways. They have been observed staying at the body of the dead family member for several days, prodding or poking at the deceased elephant with their trunks, heads or feet or making audible cries or calls (of distress). Some will return to the site of death after the death, and have been known to return even in later years, stopping to pay their respects at the site to "pay homage" (citation). After a loved one dies, it has been observed that there can be a change in body language and personality for several days while they grieve, especially mothers when their baby dies. Calves have been known to die from grief after their mother dies.
(picture citation: http://camilaruz.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/elephant-grief.jpg)

In a recent case in Borneo, 10 pygmy elephants were found dead (likely poisoned) on a farmers field. They were found after being dead for close to three weeks. When authorities discovered the dead elephants, they also found a 3 month old calf "trying to use its trunk to nudge its mother awake". According to an article written the Digital Journal, elephants are "reportedly the only other mammals besides humans known to mourn their dead". They also attend to their sick and dying clan members.   
Poaching, environmental degradation, farming casualties, and environmental changes are taking a toll on elephants, not only in population sizes, but emotionally as well. Not only do they lose a member of their life long community but they also feel a communal, tragic loss with each death, be it from a natural death or at the hand of a human.

Elephants maintain friendships for life, and evidently after death as well.  

Sources:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/mammals-animals/elephants/elephant_african_mourning/

http://digitaljournal.com/article/342421

http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/Senses/Grieving/grieving.html

Eternal Reefs, Sea Funerals

I was reading through Branwen's blog and came across her post about sea burials. I searched around the site she had posted and it actually looks pretty cool. Eternal Reefs was created after two college roommates realized the massive destruction of underwater habitats which was (and still is) prevalent off the Florida Keys coastline. Basically, Eternal Reefs objective is to create new host environment for aquatic life. They developed an environmentally friendly cement mixture which is mixed with cremation ashes and moulded into a "pearl" shaped base reef. Family members are then able to make designs, put hand prints, place shells, etc in the drying cement to leave a lasting mark for their deceased loved one. This is then placed in an assigned reef destination where it is left to stimulate reef growth. Family members are encouraged to take the 'Family Boat' to watch the placement, as well as take part in a reef ceremony for their bereaved. What I love about this form of 'burial' and, judging on peoples testimonies, other people love about this too, is that although a person(s) (or pet) has died, they are being placed in an extremely stimulating environment, which may concur with a persons afterlife beliefs, whatever they may be. I think its brilliant that they are creating habitats to encourage life, while including cremation remains; it's a nice life cycle if you ask me.

Surprisingly, this water burial is not that expensive. Of course, the remains have to have been cremated beforehand, so that has to be kept in mind, but compared to a grave plot and coffin, it isn't terrible. Prices range from $2,995 for the most modest 'Sea Oats Memorial Reef' area, to $6,995 for the larger 'Mariner Memorial Reef'. Many reefs are placed in American waters, but there is also options in Acapulco and Cancun, and it has also caught on in other places around the globe.
Hey, I've been saying for years that I want to be buried at sea. Apparently they frown upon throwing bodies into the ocean these days.. maybe this would be a good option for the future? Pretty cool. Plus, look how nice the reefs look once they are established!

Resomation- "Bio Cremation"

I just read Britney O's post on Resomation, which is a 'High Pressure Alkaline Hydrolysis' process which has the same outcome as a cremation, but is a different process entirely. In my opinion, I think this is a really innovative way to dispose of bodies, without the environmental damage that cremation causes. I read a short comparative paper which Britney had linked to her page, along with going through the Resomation website, and I think this is just so fascinating. "Bio Cremation" uses an alkaline hydrosis reaction to break down the body in a stainless steel chamber. It takes around 3-4 hours like a regular cremation does, and the finishing result is a sterile liquid solution and pristine white bones, jewellery, and any metals that were left in the body prior to the process. After this process bones are soft and are crushed up and returned to the family is the same manner as a cremation (they even encourage the use of silk or woollen containers instead of urns, but I'm sure that isn't set in stone if people would like to stick to the traditional urn). The process uses less energy and unlike a cremation, the machine does not need to be preheated. Several studies have shown that the CO2 released in this process is 1/4 of that released in a cremation. According the to paper, the liquid which is produced can be integrated in with other raw sewage with little difficulty. The process of bio-cremation was originally used for infected animals, again with little to no effects in water treatment. There is also a potential for using the liquid for making a soil nutrient used in green energy production, but it doesn't look as if this has been thoroughly tested yet. This seems to me like it could be a viable alternative to cremation, I've read several blog posts saying that people are uneasy about the bones not being in powder form when they are removed from the Resomation chamber, but in my opinion, I think that as long as people don't have to watch the bones be removed and powdered, it really is quite similar to cremation, although apparently the bones are a thinner powder and are pearly white when they are bio cremated. I suppose it really depends on how people feel about the disposal method of their loved ones. What aspects are the key factors when they decide how their body will be laid to rest. I think this is an extremely intriguing advancement and I really hope that it catches on more in the future!
(These pictures can all be linked to the Resomation website.)

"Executed today"

While writing a paper for one of my classes, I came across a resource that I instantly thought would do just fine for a blog post!.. A blog entitled "Execution Today". I really am shocked to see how many blogs there are out there, especially about death. So much information about death. http://www.executedtoday.com/ This site has a sophisticated database which allows you to either click on a calendar, or click the "random execution" button. Clicking on either of these will bring you to a page of someone executed in the past on that day.I spent some time clicking the "random" button, lord knows I love a good Russian Roulette game. The basic format of the site: Each page gives a title of the specific execution, and the name. Then goes on to give a brief back story to why they are being executed, perhaps the court case if there was one, and then the death sentence and aftermath. Some a lengthy, and some give a brief encounter, depending on how much information is circulating for that given case. Often there are pictures or videos, something to make the screen look more enticing. Below the specific case, there are links to other executions on that day in history, as well as a section for "possibly related executions" which you can also explore. An interesting thing about this site is that as a blog, you can of course leave comments or post on the page. You can also find "recent executions". Oddly enough, you can also find advertisements for links to "10 executions that defined the '90s'", or the 60's, etc. http://www.executedtoday.com/2012/01/02/10-executions-that-defined-the-1990s/ It's odd to think that you can pinpoint the "top" executions. Who gets to decide that? Is it based on how "cruel" they were? How "graphic"? If they were "political"? It seems that there is a mix. This site is SO interesting. It fits in so nicely with my love of history and historic tragedy. I spent about an hour looking through the pages.. I was planning on glancing through for only a few minutes, but I got so engrossed. I read things from across the globe and read about executions as far back as the 1400s, although I doubt that the fun stops there! I learned about the last female execution in South Africa, I learned about the execution of Nazi doctors executed after their Nuremberg Trail ended, and on and on. SO fascinating! I encourage everyone to take a look! Such fun history!! Send me links if you find something particularly "intriguing".