The Cleaning Station · Lady Elliot Island, Southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Viewer Role: A quiet coral block on the white sand patch beside the bommie, looking slightly upward (July · Austral Winter Manta Season · 10 m Depth).

Transparency Disclosure: Generated 360° wildlife reconstruction built to peer-reviewed field biology and natural spatial acoustics: stationary eye-level camera (zero motion), 5 sustained shots (≥40 s each) joined by 1 s fades, starting at yaw 0°.

Verified Scientific Sources

• Couturier, L. I. E., Jaine, F. R. A., Townsend, K. A., Weeks, S. J., Richardson, A. J., & Bennett, M. B. (2011). Distribution, site affinity and regional movements of the manta ray, Manta alfredi (Krefft, 1868), along the east coast of Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research, 62(6), 628–637; Couturier et al. (2014), Journal of Fish Biology, 85(5), 1592–1616. — Austral winter (June–August) aggregation, high site fidelity to Lady Elliot Island coral cleaning stations, and decades-long photo-identification of individual Mobula alfredi via unique ventral spot patterns. [Source ↗]
• Marshall, A. D., & Pierce, S. J. (2012). The use and abuse of photographic identification in sharks and rays. Journal of Fish Biology, 80(5), 1361–1379; Vaughan, G. O., et al. (2017). Cleaner fishes and sharks/rays mutualism. — Cleaning mutualism between reef manta rays and cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) removing ectoparasitic copepods and necrotic tissue at coral bommies. [Source ↗]
• Radford, C. A., Jeffs, A. G., Tindle, C. T., & Montgomery, J. C. (2008). Resonating sea urchin skeletons create coastal water noise / coral reef soundscapes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 362, 37–43. — Coral reef ambient biophony dominated by snapping shrimp (Alpheidae) cavitation crackle and scarid grazing. [Source ↗]
• Digital Live Zoo Live Cam Archive — Tropical reef, Aquarium of the Pacific (/live/tropical-reef-aquarium-of-the-pacific/) & Coral reef, sandy channel (/live/coral-reef-sandy-channel/). — Live coral reef & tropical reef cameras on Digital Live Zoo. [Source ↗]