Vol. 2, No. 8

June 2006

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Photo by Bill Keogh/Florida Keys News Bureau

Participants in last year's Underwater Music Festival at Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary pretend to play faux musical instruments.

Lower Keys' Reef Set as Venue for Quirky Underwater Music Festival

By Carol Shaughnessy
Florida Keys News Bureau

LOOE KEY, Florida Keys — Scuba-diving Elvis imitators are to "perform" with a mermaid back-up singer during the quirky 22nd annual Underwater Music Festival, set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 8.

Themed "Music and Art in the Key of Sea," the sub-sea songfest takes place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary approximately six miles south of Big Pine Key. It draws as many as 600 divers and snorkelers each year to explore the marine life that characterizes North America's only living coral barrier reef.

The event is staged by a Keys radio station that broadcasts music, ranging from humpback whale songs to the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden," underwater via speakers suspended beneath boats positioned at the reef.

Participating divers and snorkelers also can explore an underwater art gallery. Artwork by Barbara Hettinger and others at Big Pine's Artists in Paradise Gallery is to be suspended beneath boats for finned fanciers to view.

In addition, organizers expect underwater art "afishionados" to "perform" deep-sea ditties on maritime musical instruments — such as a trombonefish, a manta-lin and a drumfish — sculpted by Florida Keys artist August Powers.

The concert promotes preservation of the Florida Keys' unique coral reef ecosystem. The musical broadcast incorporates diver awareness announcements written and recorded by marine sanctuary officials.

Participating divers and snorkelers can reserve space aboard boats run by Lower Keys dive operators, or launch their own boats from public ramps throughout the area.

For more information, contact the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce at (800) 872-3722 or (305) 872-2411, or dive into this Web site or the chamber's Web site at lowerkeyschamber.com.

By Andy Newman
Florida Keys News Bureau

The Florida Keys tourism council has debuted a new online brochure designed to inform and help Keys visitors in the unlikely event the region is threatened by a hurricane during their stay.

"According to the Key West National Weather Service office, for an average week during hurricane season, the probability of a Keys visitor's vacation being interrupted by a hurricane is less than 2 percent," said tourism director Harold Wheeler, based on meteorological data analyzed by the weather service for the past 20 years. "Even though chances of a visitor encountering a tropical cyclone are minuscule, we believe it is most appropriate to make certain our visitors are informed and protected."

The downloadable brochure can be printed on a home computer printer, folded and easily stored in the traveler's suitcase or other carrying case.

The brochure is a new component of the tourism council's "Visitor Safety" Web site section that provides phone numbers and links to law enforcement, medical facilities and an exclusive toll-free multilingual visitor assistance line sponsored by the council.

A special "Hurricane Info" section provides details on how the Keys tourism industry interfaces with local emergency management officials in the event a tropical cyclone threatens the island chain. The pages are linked to the Keys home page via highly visible icons at www.fla-keys.com. Click here to download the brochure immediately.

The hurricane section also provides a primer on tropical cyclones, details forecast tracking maps and explains some of the misperceptions regarding storms.

Links from the site take Web users to other information resources such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center and the Key West National Weather Service Office.

"It is refreshing to see a tourism council being so honest and proactive to provide pertinent information to keep their visitors safe," said Max Mayfield, hurricane center director. "Many coastal areas of the U.S., islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean are popular with vacationers and have the potential to be impacted by a hurricane. Much of the information on the Keys site will also be of good use for people headed to those regions."

The official Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Many of those who vacation in the Florida Keys dream of living there permanently.

Now, a Key West business will make that dream a reality for one lucky winner.

Lazy Dog Island Outfitters & Outdoor Adventure Company is staging a contest for a $75,000 per year job and one year of free housing.

Applicants from around the country and overseas can apply by completing a form on winajobinkeywest.com, attaching a resume with a 300-word statement explaining why they want the job and paying a $10 processing fee. The team is looking for applicants who fit in with the company's business philosophy of making every day exceptional, while living a relaxed island life.

The winner will be welcomed to Key West with a year of free housing in a prestigious community. The new executive will have hands-on involvement with all aspects of the business ranging from marketing and sales to outdoor adventures in and around Key West.