Gregs birthday puzzle

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Across
  1. 2. Country that sounds like aquatic mammals.
  2. 3. A group of singers, often found in a church.
  3. 5. To staff a station or operate a post
  4. 6. Middle of Katherine
  5. 8. Three-fifths of "there."
Down
  1. 1. The Y2K era
  2. 3. The dead middle.
  3. 4. Two-letter preposition
  4. 7. Located in or near.