Halloween Day by Anna:

What did we dress up as? Peter, Mark and I dressed up as volunteer research assistants for the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. (It's the hottest costume this year!) Sean went as our fearless leader and Eric of PSRF dressed up as our skipper and drove us in his boat, Flaterliner, up to Ano Nuevo Island to look for white sharks.

We were visited by five Trick-or-Treaters that day. They moslty handed out tricks by checking out the big visual yellow lure, just close enough for us to see them, but darting away before we could snap a photo id shot or attach a transmitter. Perhaps they weren't too into the treats we had- blubber from a dead elephant seal. Considering the date, we probably should have baited the water with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups or Skittles.

It was so cool to see the dorsal fin of a great white shark cut through the water's surface like a knife. We saw our fifth shark just before our departure back for Santa Cruz, around 2pm. This one was a biggie, and she did a lap around our boat, so we were able to look at her entire body and head, and could tell without a doubt that she was looking right back at us!

When we arrived back to Pacific Grove, we were almost too tired to attend to the human trick-or-treaters that knocked on the door at Willow street. Most of us retired early in anticipation of our long day of packing, and Sean trekked back to Santa Cruz to give his shark talk at a Halloween party- how cool is that!