Google unveils new underwater ‘street views’

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    Google has unveiled a collection of 40 new “special street view” images as part of its latest update.

    As well as regular images, the new views let you swim with humpback whales in the Cook Islands, dive off the coast of Bali and take a beach stroll in Samoa.

    Google’s Street View team created the new pictures alongside the Catlin Seaview Survey, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Chagos Conversation Trust.

    The project is part of Google Earth Outreach which began creating underwater views in 2012, alongside Catlin, in order to help monitor the conditions of some of Earth’s most remote and breathtaking habitats.

    They also give us bystanders an amazing view of unseen worlds.

    On Google’s blog, the company says: “Mapping the ocean is key to preserving it.

    “Each image in Google Maps is a GPS-located digital record of these underwater and coastal environments, which can be used as a baseline to monitor change over time.

    “This comprehensive record of coral reefs showcases the beauty of these ecosystems and highlights the threats they face, such as the impact of increasing storms in the Great Barrier Reef and of rising water temperatures, factors causing the reefs to bleach white.”

    “These two images taken just one year apart, demonstrate reef deterioration from ocean warming.”

    “As the ocean changes, we must change with it by creating new technologies, to help document the state of the ocean today and how it changes in years to come,” the statement added.

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