AUSTIN, Texas  -- It's Girl Scout cookie season!

  • Girl Scout cookie season has returned
  • Girl Scout Scuba Troop 40348 selling cookies with aquatic theme 
  • Proceeds to fund scuba gear

Now until the end of February you'll probably be diving into some boxes of Thin Mints or Samoas. But if you want to buy a box from one Texas troop, you'll have to take the plunge.

"We are Girl Scout divers," said Eleanor from Girl Scout Scuba Troop 40348.

"We sell cookies like normal," said Eleanor. "We have our booth and take the money but this is where it differs. We have people fill out an order form on waterproof paper."

"I am putting an order form onto our underwater rocket," said Girl Scout Ella. "So we are going to send it down to the booth where they'll read this and know how many cookies to send up."

What's unusual about this cookie distribution system is it incorporates the indoor pool at Dive World Austin. The cookies are prepared, submerged, and then float to the top for retrieval. 

Girl Scout cookies are prepared for submersion in water in this image from January 2020. (Lauren Due/Spectrum News)

The money made will go back to the troop.

"The first is our travel fund, the second is our patches for our uniform, and the third is a tank fund," said Eleanor. "We want to have our own Girl Scout scuba diving tanks."

And extra purchases were made for our helping heroes.

"We are an aquatic troop so we want to take ours to the Coast Guard in Galveston," said Eleanor. "It's a big deal for us to be able to give back to them because they give so much to everyone else."

For the girls, it's more than just selling Thin Mints and Peanut Butter Patties.

"A big part of what we do is educating people about the ocean and how they can help protect it," said Eleanor.

"So we have actually made a petition for Girl Scouts of America and ABC Bakers to make the cookie packaging we use more recyclable and eco-friendly," said Eleanor.

Girl Scout cookies appear underwater at Dive World in Austin, Texas, in this image from January 2020. (Lauren Due/Spectrum News)