Underwater Music Festival

About 300 divers and snorkelers grabbed their gear and headed under the sea to participate in the Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on July 14, 2012 off Big Pine Key, Florida.

Musicians played ocean-themed tunes like Jimmy Buffett's "Fins," the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," and the themes from "The Little Mermaid" and television's classic "Gilligan's Island."

The concert was sponsored by a local Keys radio station at Looe Key Reef. They hung speakers underwater from boats positioned above the reef so people could hear the songs while the swam.

Some participants played special instruments including a trom-bonefish and clambourine sculpted by Florida Keys artist August Powers.

The concert was done to raise awareness for the U.S.' only living contiguous corral barrier reef. Messages about how divers could enjoy their surroundings while minimizing impact on the environment were broadcast in between songs.

"Music underwater has a real ethereal feel to it," festival founder Bill Becker (not pictured here) said in the press release. "You don't just hear it through your ears, you hear it through your whole body -- through your jawbone, through your skull."