Florida underwater festival aims to promote reef preservation

Music fans and divers alike headed way down below the ocean six miles off the Florida Coast on Saturday for the annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival.

Around 400 people gathered for the underwater ‘concert’ on the sea floor at the Looe Key Reef, where a local radio station pumped an ocean themed soundtrack into the deep on waterproof speakers for the divers to sway to.

Underwater Music Festival Takes Over Florida Keys https://t.co/eStN5RdvVR pic.twitter.com/aC45XX2dO9— wishing well (@BocaIrishPub) July 12, 2017

Festival co-founder Bill Becker said: “The Underwater Music Festival is a way to celebrate the coral reef and we celebrate it by looking for a balance between protection of the reef and public enjoyment.”

“We have a captive audience down there,” he continued. “We have divers and snorkelers listening to public service announcements about reef preservation, coral reef etiquette and diver awareness.

“It’s things that they can do to lessen their impact on the coral reef.”

The aquatic playlist featured numbers such as The Beatles’ ‘Octupus’ Garden’, ‘Under the sea’ from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and even the theme from ‘Jaws’.

The festival aims to encourage the preservation of the Florida Keys’ coral reefs.