Scuba divers carve pumpkins in Mote shark tank

Two volunteer scuba divers carved pumpkins instead of cleaning the tank on Halloween.

By Lesley Dwyer
| 10:15 p.m. October 31, 2022

Brooke Welch shows off her underwater pumpkin carving skills. (Photo by Lesley Dwyer)

Longboat Key
Neighbors

The cleaning can wait when it’s Halloween. Brooke Welch and Rene Raaymakers are volunteer scuba divers at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. When the pair showed up to clean a tank on Monday, they were given carving tools instead of their usual tools.

Two hollowed-out pumpkins were dropped into the water for the women to carve. In honor of the tank’s inhabitants, Raaymakers chose a hammerhead shark design and Welch carved out three species of stingrays.

Both are longtime Mote volunteers. Raaymakers started in 2015, and Welch started in 2013 as a high school intern. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t Welch’s first time carving a pumpkin underwater. She carved one off Turtle Beach with her local dive shop.

author

Lesley Dwyer

Lesley Dwyer is a staff writer for East County and a graduate of the University of South Florida. After earning a bachelor’s degree in professional and technical writing, she freelanced for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Lesley has lived in the Sarasota area for over 25 years.