Reef Protection, Eco-Conscious Diving Encouraged During Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - What better way to encourage reef protection and eco-conscious diving than to explore part of the living coral barrier reef while rocking to a sub-sea concert?
Divers and snorkelers did just that on Saturday.
Dubbed 'The Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival' took place about 6 miles south of Big Pine Key at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Organizers say the concert provided a "submerged soundtrack" for divers discovering the Keys' diverse realm of tropical fish, coral formations and other marine life.
Participants were treated to music piped underwater through speakers suspended beneath boats above the reef.
Organizers said, "Music was interspersed with diver awareness messages about ways to balance enjoying the underwater world and minimizing environmental impacts on the planet's reefs, whose rich biodiversity has led them to be called the rainforests of the sea."
Festival participants were entertained by divers dressed as mermaids or other sea creatures who pretended to play musical instruments.