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Music fans spend the day at a real dive
Divers and snorkelers - some toting artistic instruments - soak in the hurricane-delayed Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival.
Associated Press
Published July 17, 2005
BIG PINE KEY - Delayed a week by Hurricane Dennis, more than 250 divers and snorkelers got wet Saturday to hear a radio station's broadcast in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The theme from the 1960s Dennis the Menace television sitcom topped musical selections at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival at Looe Key Reef.
"Hurricane Dennis turned out to be no menace to the Keys or the reef, so we played the theme from Dennis the Menace in its memory," said festival coordinator Bill Becker of Conch FM.
Divers and snorkelers, several costumed as mermaids, swayed to marine melodies ranging from the Beatles' Octopus's Garden and Yellow Submarine to humpback whale songs.
To provide some visual culture, some divers attempted to make sounds underwater on instruments created by a local artist August Powers - each one sculpted to resemble an undersea creature.
Martha Puckett of Louisville, Ky., tried Powers' "drumfish" and discovered the vibrations appealed to fish as well as divers.
"The fish came swimming around and looked like they were enjoying it as much as I was," Puckett said.
Songs were accompanied by public service announcements promoting coral reef conservation.
Hurricane Dennis delivered tropical force-strength winds to the Florida Keys when it passed about 125 miles west of Key West on July 9.
[Last modified July 17, 2005, 01:04:06]
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