Story: Hundreds Submerge for Florida Keys’ Underwater Music Festival
Locator Super: Off Big Pine Key, Florida Keys
Video: Video also can be downloaded from the Florida Keys News Bureau’s FTP server. Details below. Topside and underwater B-roll of divers participating in Underwater Music Festival with underwater NAT sound including the music which was recorded underwater. SOTs with festival founder Bill Becker and participating swimmer Diana Nyad. B-roll of Nyad swimming in water at 01:06-01:12 and 01:28-01:40.
TRT: 02:37
Host: ftp://news.fla-keys.com
UserID: floridakeys
Password: islands
Filename: KeysUWmusic.mov
Video Source: Florida Keys News Bureau
More than 400 divers and snorkelers explored part of the continental United States’ only living coral barrier reef while rocking to a subsea concert during the annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival on Saturday, 11 July.
Staged by Keys radio station WWUS and the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, the festival encourages coral reef protection and environmentally responsible diving. The event took place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary about six miles south of Big Pine Key.
“This is a celebration of the coral reef,” said festival founder Bill Becker. “It’s a way for people to really appreciate the coral reef while at the same time listening to an environmental message, and we are committed to preserving the coral reef and keeping it safe.”
Music was broadcast through the radio station via underwater speakers suspended beneath boats above the reef. Swimming among colourful tropical fish and coral formations, participants swayed to sea-focused music that included humpback whale songs and tunes like the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins.”
Participants included endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, who in September 2013 became the first person to swim from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage. Nyad, who kept focused during the almost 111-mile swim by singing a mental “playlist” to herself, said actually hearing songs underwater was incredible.
“You couldn’t hear it this well if you were in a concert sitting in the front row and actually watching the fingers on the guitar,” Nyad said. “It’s very magical and distinct underwater.”
One of the songs from Nyad’s personal Cuba-to-Key-West soundtrack, “Me and Bobby McGee,” was broadcast during the festival in her honour.
For further information on the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, visit www.lowerkeyschamber.com
For further information on the Florida Keys & Key West, visit www.fla-keys.co.uk