Water Search for 3 day Old Wedding Ring at Midnight

Can you imagine losing your brand new, 3-day old platinum wedding ring?
That’s exactly what Palm did at Whale Bay near Matapouri in New Zealand, and he and his wife Rosa were desperate to find it!
Every sentimental ring has memories attached to it, gathered over the years. Some, like Palm’s 3-day old platinum wedding ring, start collecting their stories early!

His wife, Rosa, phoned me the other evening asking if I could help after Palm lost his ring at Whale Bay. They were desperate— after all, it had only been on his finger for three days, and they were going to be leaving the area in two…

I made arrangements to head down after work the following evening and target the midnight low tide. They drove out to meet me at 9pm, and we made the long trek to Whale Bay – it’s a long walk wearing 30kg of weightbelt!

Palm said he had been “neck deep,” so the ring was likely below the low tide mark. I checked where they had been sitting and the intertidal zone first. Nothing. So I pulled out the water kit and started the search in the shallows, progressively working my way out into deeper water.
Whale Bay is thankfully fairly devoid of metallic litter, so the few junk targets of old fishing reel pieces and 5 cent coins got my heart racing… but it went double time when a visitor joined me in the water!

I typically don’t use a torch for beach searches at night, preferring to hunt in the dark and don’t do deep wades at night in summer, having been ‘bumped’ a couple of times in the past. It always makes the heart skip when sharks seemingly teleport out of nowhere, even in daylight. I was about chest deep when I saw the phosphorescence in the water light up in a cloud as it slid past—about 1.5 to 2 metres long. The torch went on and I watched it turn and come back. It wasn’t that lovely copper colour of a Bronzie (I don’t mind those guys, they’re just big puppies) but the indigo/blue of a Mako.

I stopped and watched it for a few seconds as it cruised past again and slid off back into the darkness. When it came back again, I seriously considered cancelling the search, but the pectoral fins were still held level, indicating it wasn’t in an aggressive mood, and it vanished again for good. It must have been just cruising through and was curious what was making the noise. With the adrenaline wearing off, and well past where Palm would have been, I decided the ring wasn’t out in the water.

Wading ashore, there was one area left unsearched: the beach section between where they had been sitting and the high water mark. I worked the first search line up past where Rosa and Palm were still sitting patiently in the dark, nothing was said – I could sense their hopes fading.
To ensure I maintained 100% coverage, I moved a large branch that Palm had placed the previous day to mark where they had been… and as the coil swung over the depression in the sand, I heard the sound that only a wayward platinum wedding ring could make. Palm had put the branch directly on top of it!

I turned the detector off and walked over to them. Still believing it was in the water, they looked up, resigned to it being lost—until I held the ring out to Palm!
It takes an extremely happy man to bear-hug a saturated detectorist.

Now, that walk back out with the weight belt… Why are beaches always at the bottom of hills?