There's something fishy about these jack-o-lanterns

As far as Halloween celebrations go, the one at Sea Life aquarium at the Mall of America is all wet.

The divers who go into the tanks to tend to the fish are going to be perfecting — or so they hope — the art of carving jack-o'-lanterns underwater while decked out in scuba gear and Halloween costumes and surrounded by fish.

It's not as easy as it looks, insisted divers Ryan Foyt and Tom Cornell. And it doesn't look the least bit easy.

The two men gave the process a test run last week as the aquarium prepared for underwater carving sessions, which run from Saturday through Oct. 29.

"I lost part of my pumpkin," admitted Cornell, who made a valiant effort to capture the errant piece as it shot toward the surface.

You see, pumpkins — and parts thereof — are buoyant. The divers had to hold the pumpkin down with one hand while gripping a knife in the other hand, leaving them a hand short when they had to corral the pieces they had cut out before they floated away.

It also turns out that Halloween costumes aren't the ideal diving gear. Foyt, outfitted as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and Cornell, bedecked as a skeleton, needed yet another hand (we're up to four, now) to keep their masks from dislodging and blocking their goggles.

"I could see out of only one eye," Cornell reported as he exited the tank. "I had to make sure I didn't stab myself."

Add curious sturgeon — and even a nosy turtle — that decided to check out the action ("They like to help out," Foyt explained), and it was enough to make onlookers long for the good old days of carving pumpkins on a kitchen table.

Asked if she would consider filling her bathtub to try underwater pumpkin carving at home, Joann Riffel of Minneapolis, who was watching the practice run with 3-month-old granddaughter Jenna, was quick to respond: "No. We're good. I'm OK just enjoying the show."

On the other hand, the kids in attendance thought it was a hoot, running up to give Foyt and Cornell high-fives and fist bumps through the glass. (That's where a fifth hand would have come in handy.)

The divers — officially known as aquarists — took it all in stride — or flutter kick, as the case may be.

"We're up for just about any kind of underwater activity," said Foyt, whose duties beyond pumpkin carving include feeding the fish, providing medical care and cleaning the tanks.

Carving pumpkins in the tanks poses no danger for the fish, even from the bits of pumpkin that float away, said John Sullwold, Sea Life's marketing communications manager. In fact, some fish consider the morsels quite tasty.

The only accommodation made for the water carving is that the seeds are cleaned out of the pumpkins before the divers enter the tank, but that has more to do with not plugging up the aquarium's elaborate pumps than concern over the fish's reactions.

Besides, as reactions go, even the fish couldn't top those of the youngsters who were watching with eyes as big as pumpkins.

"I love looking out and seeing the kids," Cornell said. "Anything we can do to get kids excited, I like."

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392