Volunteer SCUBA divers Todd Arrants, left, and Barry Bullard carve pumpkins in the Tennessee River exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium in 2023 for ODDtober
photo by Tennessee Aquarium
The Tennessee Aquarium is celebrating the start of ODDtober with an underwater pumpkin carving demonstration. Two costumed SCUBA divers will descend into the River Giants exhibit to create and show off themed jack-o’-lanterns alongside enormous Arapaima, Barramundi, Giant Whiptail Stingrays, and a variety of super-sized catfish species.
This popular event also will be streamed live on the Aquarium’s Facebook page.
It will begin at 11 a.m. at the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey building.
The event helps kickoff ODDtober, a month-long celebration focused on the weird and wonderful side of nature. Throughout ODDtober, creatures’ unique adaptations will be highlighted, and pumpkins and other seasonal decorations will pop up in interesting places.
Visitors may enjoy divers continuing this spook-tacular tradition throughout ODDtober with weekly pumpkin carving demonstrations on Saturdays at 2 p.m.
It is especially challenging to carve jack-o’-lanterns underwater since pumpkins float. As they work, volunteer SCUBA divers will use dive weights to keep their creations at depth. While it’s recommended that everyone leave underwater pumpkin carving to the experts, you can create your own JAW-some jack-o’-lanterns using templates designed by the Aquarium. Alligator, shark, lemur, and penguins are among eight carving templates that families can download and print for free.
Volunteer SCUBA divers Dr. Lisa Shier, left, and Marie Dement carve pumpkins in the Tennessee River exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium in 2022 for ODDtober
photo by Tennessee Aquarium