Divers jam under the sea during the Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys
(CBS News) Hundreds of people headed down to the Florida Keys to listen to their favorite tunes -- down below in the deep blue ocean.
About 300 divers and snorkelers swam their way to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to partake in the Underwater Music Festival. Ocean-themed songs like Jimmy Buffett's "Fins," the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," and the themes from "The Little Mermaid" and television's classic "Gilligan's Island" were included in the festivities.
"Music underwater has a real ethereal feel to it," festival founder Bill Becker 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."
Concertgoers were able to explore the U.S.' only living contiguous barrier reef. A local Keys radio station at Looe Key Reef sponsored the concert. They broadcast the tunes underwater through speakers suspended underneath boats positioned above the reef. Messages about how divers could enjoy the area while minimizing impacts on the environment were interspersed throughout the music.
The participants got in the swing of things, some playing ocean-themed instruments like trom-bonefish and clambourines created by Florida Keys artist August Powers, while others got dolled up, wearing clothing that spoof popular contestants and judges from reality TV shows.
Seven-year-old snorkeler Jaden Gill believes that everyone underwater enjoyed the concert - human or non-human.
"I think the fish liked the music," Gill said in the press release. "It sounded like a band is playing."
