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With Google’s recent announcement of driverless cars, it would make sense to potentially have Google submersible vehicles down the road to test out their recent maps update. A couple of years ago it was just a joke within Google Maps to provide random ocean related results. Yesterday, Google just announced a new feature to their Google Maps product; Street View now offers under water images from beneath the ocean with maps.google.com/ocean.
The partnership between The Catlin Seaview Survey and Google presents amazing panoramic images beyond land mapping. According to Google, “With these vibrant and stunning photos you don’t have to be a scuba diver—or even know how to swim—to explore and experience six of the ocean’s most incredible living coral reefs. Now, anyone can become the next virtual Jacques Cousteau and dive with sea turtles, fish and manta rays in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii.”
The SVII, a special camera was used by The Catlin Seaview Survey to captures these amazing underwater images. Google and The Catlin Seaview Survey hope to educate and also encourage individuals to explore the ocean with the new feature.
Currently Google Maps showcases The Great Barrier Reef’s Wilson Bay, Heron Island, and Lady Elliot Island. It also features scenic views of Hawaii’s Molokini Crater and Hanauma Bay, and the Philippines’s Apo Islands.
