Maldives - Lankan Faru
Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives
2017-05-22
More info
Maldives (NOAA CRW virtual station)A dawn manta cleaning station where reef mantas queued for service and eagle rays cruised past, while on the reef itself crown-of-thorns starfish lurked in crevices beside fresh white feeding scars.
ހެނދުނު ފަތިހު ބޮޑުމަދި (manta) ސާފުކުރާ ތަނެކެވެ. މިތާގައި reef manta ތައް ސާފުވުމަށް ފޮލޯއަޅައިގެން ހުރިއިރު، eagle ray ތަކެއް ކައިރިން ފާއިތުވިއެވެ. އަދި ފަރުގައި، crown-of-thorns ސްޓާފިޝްތައް، އަލަށް ކާފައިވާ ހުދު ލަކުނުތަކުގެ ކައިރީގައި، ފަޅުތަކުގެ ތެރޭގައި ފޮރުވިފައި ހުއްޓެވެ.
AI translation of this summary; the English is authoritative. (low confidence)
mean; range 29.7–30.1°C
Three independent survey stations shown with the program’s logo — click one to see how far it is from this site.
One other CRD dive site with its own page within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
7 of the 24 photographs on this page are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.
Site description
Coral cover
- Reference: Claude CV point count (this site's photos)
- Coral cover: 13% — a blind Claude computer-vision point count of 20 of Anderson's edited photographs (20 points per photo; water, fish, and obstructions excluded). Other computer-vision methods are listed in the method table.
Stressors
Down on the reef, below the manta cleaning station, a quieter drama played out: crown-of-thorns starfish lurking in crevices, one tucked under a sponge- and sea-squirt-crusted ledge (e.g., Image 2), beside fresh white feeding scars (e.g., Image 26), while striped sweetlips watched from under a ledge.
Anderson's field sheet for the 22 May dive notes two crown-of-thorns starfish seen, with significant recent coral mortality nearby; they were not collected.
Fish and other fauna
Two dawn visits to a working manta cleaning station, and the mantas kept office hours both days. Divers tucked in low behind a rubble ridge — one frame shows a reef hook doing its job — while reef mantas queued overhead: singles hovering with head-fins unfurled as cleaner fish serviced them, then pairs, then three in frame at once, some gliding close enough to pass through rising bubbles (e.g., Image 1, Image 10, Image 14, Image 19).
Spotted eagle rays crashed the party too, one sweeping by with its absurdly long tail streaming like a banner (e.g., Image 21).
Comparisons with other data
We found no other surveys at this site as of 2026. Within 5 km, three Reef Check stations recorded station-year means of 7.8–37% hard coral cover between 2001 and 2007; the nearest, Reef Check at HP Reef, 4.15 km away, read 18–37% between 2006 and 2007.
CV model comparison
More info
A few colony-focused photos raise the mean; the median is the typical photo. No computer-vision method yet estimates coral cover accurately on new images, so treat this as indicative rather than a measurement; it is revised as the methods improve.More info
Other rows are for comparison only and are never averaged. No diver transect exists for these photos, so agreement between rows is not accuracy.| Method | Hard coral cover (%) | Photos (n) ± SE |
|---|---|---|
| In-house DINOv3 | 9.2 | |
| CoralSCOP edited | 22.3 | |
| Claude (edited photos) | 12.6 | n = 20 · SE 3.3 |
The two computer-vision methods disagree by 13.1 pp (9.2–22.3%) and read on both sides of Claude's blind point count (12.6%); the headline is Claude's blind point count because no transect or manual count exists here.
See a more detailed, stand-alone version of this table.
Independent surveys nearby
Coral Reef DiagnosticsWithin 5 km, 3 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 6 surveys between 2001 and 2007. The one station surveyed in more than one year increased by 19 points between its first and latest surveys. The longest record, HP Reef (Reef Check, 4.15 km away), went from 18% in 2006 to 37% in 2007. The most recent nearby survey is from 2007, so these values predate recent heat stress. This site's own estimate (13%) is not compared with these surveys: none lies within 2 km.
Collected by other programs using different methods (Reef Check uses point-intercept transects), so these are context for the figures above, not a like-for-like comparison. Where a station was surveyed more than once, the cell shows either the range of its values or, as a single value, the mean of surveys made in one year. Station names are not dive-site names.
| Agency | Site / location | Date | Hard coral cover (%) | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reef Check | Honkey's | 2001 | 7.8%, mean of 2 surveys (2 m and 6 m) | 4.81 km |
| Reef Check | Sultans | 2001 | 7.8%, mean of 2 surveys (4 m and 13.5 m) | 4.95 km |
| Reef Check | HP Reef | 2006–2007 | 18–37% (2 surveys) | 4.15 km |
Data & links
All images from Coral Reef Diagnostics. Data are from Coral Reef Diagnostics and the organizations named in the data sources above.
© Coral Reef Diagnostics.