Scuba diver finds woman’s missing $9,500 wedding ring after she lost it in a lake

A woman recently lost her $9,500 wedding ring at the bottom of a lake.

Yep, it's the stuff of nightmares.

After losing the precious piece of jewellery in the depths of Bass Lake in California, Jennie searched the internet for divers who might be able to go down and retrieve it for her.

She quickly came across Michael Pelley, better known as 'Merman Mike', who is known for finding people's lost belongings underwater.

“It’s very sentimental to me, we’ve been married for 10 years,” Jennie said in a video posted to Merman Mike's YouTube channel.

Armed with a camera, Merman Mike dived into the lake as Jennie and her family and friends nervously waited on the pier.

But the dive wasn't without its challenges.

“Almost immediately after I reached the bottom of the lake, I realised how difficult the search was going to be,” Merman Mike wrote in the caption of the YouTube video.

“The silt had immediately clouded out the area and I was in almost zero visibility.

“After a while of searching I knew I had to go back up to the surface and come up with a better plan, but unlike my normal dives, I wasn't able to just slowly ascend to the surface."

Merman Mike explained on YouTube that because the dive was 45 feet deep, he had to do three-minute safety stops every 15 feet.

Determined, Merman Mike returned to the bottom of the lake and removed his glove.

"After pulling a couple of sticks and cans out of the thick silt, I finally pulled out what I thought was going to be another bottle top or pull tab, but instead I was looking at a giant diamond," he said.

"It was the wedding ring!

"I was beyond excited, especially because I knew how slim the odds of me actually finding it were."

When Merman Mike emerged holding the ring, Jennie and her family cheered with joy.

“I can’t believe it, that’s awesome,” Jennie says in the video.

“Sooo amazing! You guys rock! I can’t believe you found it under that dark water. I’m so appreciative! Forever grateful," she later commented on the video.

Merman Mike explained that when he does a dive, he also likes to remove as much garbage from the area as he can.

“You can’t just go for the treasure, you have to go for the trash too,” he said.