In this video, you’ll see manta rays swimming around the Dhigu Thila cleaning station of the Maldives’ Baa Atoll, a popular dive site amongst manta ray enthusiasts.

Cleaning Station

A cleaning station is a location where fish and other marine life congregate to be cleaned.

Cleaning Process at a Cleaning Station

The cleaning process includes the removal of parasites from the animal’s body (both externally and internally, including gills), and can be performed by various creatures (such as cleaner shrimp and numerous species of cleaner fish, especially wrasses and gobies).

As a fish or other marine animal near a cleaning station, they will pose in an “unnatural,” indicating to the cleaner fish that they want to be cleaned and pose no threat. These “unnatural” poses can be pointing in a strange direction and/or opening the mouth wide. The cleaner fish will then eat the parasites directly off the skin of the fish. It will even swim into the mouth and gills of the fish to be cleaned.

Cleaning stations are often associated with coral features, located either on top of a coral head or in a slot between two outcroppings.