MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Wonder if the fish are smiling back?

Diver Mike Frantz of Walcott and some buddies put forth a world-record effort by turning a 1,028 pound pumpkin into a smiling jack-o-lantern while working 20 feet down in 58 degree water. But the weighty squash developed a crack after it was carved with a drywall saw and knives and broke apart into pieces. It was sent back to the bottom.

Frantz’s scuba-diving instructor, Mark Costello, ran an underwater camera to record the event for “Guinness Book of World Records” judges while Frantz and three divers made the cuts. Costello said visibility was about 1 to 2 feet underwater because of the silt from the rock quarry bottom being stirred up.

The paperwork for the world record attempt will be sent in soon.

The pumpkin grown by Dan Carlson of Clinton arrived with the insides already scooped out and riding on a large trailer. The trailer was backed into the quarry, and the scuba divers helped it into the water and let if float. They then inserted at least two large sandbags into a pre-cut hole in the side of the pumpkin to almost sink it.

The divers then pushed it to the middle of the quarry to a pre-arranged flat rock on the floor of the quarry. Mark Costello said they did a dress rehearsal Saturday to make sure the pumpkin would go under the water and could be pushed to the middle of the quarry.

The divers missed their target flat rock by about 10 feet, but ended up finding a suitable place to make the cuts.

The Costellos run a scuba diving school in Muscatine and previously used the pool there. However, carving a pumpkin in the pool leaves a mess so they decided to use the quarry. They received permission from the quarry manager.

Friends and family stayed at the water’s edge wrapped in blankets and standing around a fire in the morning chill.