AP – A Canadian woman and a paediatric cardiologist from Georgia won the men’s and women’s contests at Key West’s annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest, using different techniques to impress Saturday’s judges.
Brian Cardis of Macon, Georgia, played the Jimmy Buffett song Fins on a a pink-lined conch shell with holes so it can be played like a flute, while Carol Whiteley of Ontario, Canada, blew a long, loud blast with her shell to best other competitors.
Cardis said he began blowing the marine mollusk shell about 10 years ago during a family visit to Key West, adapting techniques he learned playing the trumpet as a child.
“You sort of have to just buzz your lips when you’re blowing into it,” Cardis said. “You have to make a ‘pffft’ noise with your lips to generate the sound.”
