Earlier this year, a new version of Google Earth was released with many new features. One of these features is a detailed bathymetric map of the ocean floor, which allows you to drop below the surface of the water and and explore the nooks and crannies of the sea floor in 3D. This is a huge improvement over the previous blue expanse with low resolution shading to suggest depth, which was the hallmark of previous versions of Google Earth. According to Google Earth director John Hanke, the new ocean features are mainly the result of the work of Dr. Sylvia Earle, who cornered him at a conference several years ago to tell him that Google Earth was great but was not finished – there was no real ocean component. It was then that the Google Earth team began their efforts to “complete” their creation.
Dr. Earle and literally dozens of ocean scientists and advocates from around the world helped make the project a reality including: the BBC, the California Academy of Sciences, the Cousteau Society, the Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, the Deep Search Foundation, DOER Marine, Eco-Nova Productions, Feodor Pitcairn Productions, NOAA, and many more. The new ocean features are not comprised of only the bathymetric map, there are thousands of data points including videos and images of ocean life, details on the best surf spots, logs of real ocean expeditions and more.
You can download Google Earth 5.0 for free, and there are conisderable resources such as tutorials to help you learn how to navigate through the software. This is an exciting new educational tool to help teach individuals of all ages about the ocean. We at Ocean Power Magazine, would like to see the locations of ocean power technology test sites and off-coast wind farms added to the features list. Since the software has been in circulation for several months, it may be time to send them our suggestions.
Below please find a great video overview of all the great features to explore:
