Visible signs and characteristics. 1  There is a noticeable break in the pattern of the waves: the water often looks flat at the rip, in contrast to the lines of breaking waves on either side of the rip. 2  A river of foam: the surface of the rip sometimes looks foamy, because the current is carrying foam from the surf out to open water.
At the same time, without circulation to keep it moving through the body, blood starts to pool and settle. Rigor mortis, or a stiffening of the body, sets in about two to six hours after death [source: Marchant, Middleton]. While the body as a whole may be dead, little things within the body are still alive. Skin cells, for example, can be viably harvested for up to 24 hours after death [source: Mims]. But some things that are still alive lead to the putrefaction, or decomposition, of the body -- we're talking about little organisms that live in the intestines.
Each state has laws affecting what happens to a body after death. For example, most states have unique rules about embalming, burial or cremation, scattering ashes, and how to get a death certificate. Here are some answers to common questions about post-death matters in Hawaii.n Hawaii, a body must usually be embalmed, cremated or buried within 30 hours after death. If the body is in the custody of the coroner, medical examiner, county, or county physician, the body must be embalmed, cremated, buried within 30 after release, or placed in refrigerated storage in a state approved hospital.