June 8th, World Oceans Day is dedicated to keep safe the coral reefs and the life that prospers out of our sight. To honor this day, Google has decided to celebrate this day by sending its updated Street View service with lots of visual images from various underwater and seaside locations.
On a serious note, Google points out, “Home to the majority of life on Earth, the ocean acts as its life support system, controlling everything from our weather and rainfall to the oxygen we breathe. Yet despite the ocean’s vital importance, the ocean is changing at a rapid rate due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing, making it one of the most serious environmental issues we face today”. To provide the latest updated Google Street View, the search giant has come together with XL Catlin Seaview Survey, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Chagos Conservation Trust to add 40 more locations around the world. All the available mapped areas can be viewed in Google’s Street View Oceans section, and one can navigate the environments just like any other Street View interface. There are also many creatures included in the 3D visual images, right from sunk ships, coral barriers, sea turtles, humpback whales, dolphins, the great white shark and various other sea life. Some of the exotic locations include American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Hawaii, Bermuda, Bali, Monaco, the Mexican coast, Belize, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, the Florida Keys, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Galapagos Islands, and many more. All one has to do is to take time out and explore the Street View library, either alone or with his/her kids, teaching them about what the ocean means to us all.
Jennifer Sullivan of the Google Maps Ocean program concludes “This World Oceans Day, we hope that you’re inspired to learn more about ocean change. So dive into the deeps of the sea and become engaged to protect the ocean and understand how it supports us, so that all of us can better support it in return”. Resource : Google Blog.
