Aleki Taumoepeau earned the nickname "Lord of the Ring" after he successfully retrieved his wedding ring from the bottom of Wellington Harbour 16 months after he lost it.
The NIWA ecologist, from Hamilton, was checking the harbour for invasive plant species in March last year when the ring slipped from his finger.
At the time, he hastily threw an old anchor overboard to mark the spot and vowed to Rachel, his wife of three months, that he would find it.
"It flew off into the air and everyone on the boat was looking at it and said it was like a scene from Lord of the Rings in slow motion," Rachel Taumoepeau told The Dominion Post.
A dive three months after the mishap failed to find the ring, but Aleki Taumoepeau was back in the capital again recently for another attempt.
After an hour searching in three metres of water near the Hutt River mouth, Aleki found nothing.
"I was getting cold and tired so I said to God it would be really good to find the ring about now."
He then spied the anchor, with the ring just centimetres away.
"I couldn't believe that I could see the ring so perfectly."
