The usage of ?never-before-used? tombstones as jetties, part of a state-wide project to ward off erosion 15 years ago, came as a shock when discovered by a Babylon man and his son last month.

While on a fishing trip, Manny Torres? son saw stones in the water that looked strange. Some of which had etchings like ?Mother? carved into them. Without a graveyard in sight, an answer to this riddle took some investigation.

?These are tombstones that are irregular. Maybe a name was spelled wrong or something like that,? explained Richard Groh, a Babylon Environmental Analyst. ?They were never used.?

The granite tombstones are more favorable to the marine environment than outside materials like concrete or asphalt. There are more than 800 tombstones between Oak Beach and the Venetian Shores. Many of the stones were donated by local Babylon monument businesses.