Australia Blog
News and notes from Google Down Under
The Great Barrier Reef stars in Ocean in Google Earth
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Ocean in Google Earth? Wait ... didn't
Google Earth
always have an ocean? Technically yes, we have always had a big blue expanse and some shading to suggest depth. But starting today, with the launch of Google Earth 5.0, you can drop below the surface and explore the nooks and crannies of the sea floor in 3D. While you're there you can view videos and images of ocean life, read about good surf spots, track ocean expeditions and much more.
The new 'Explore the Ocean' layer contains information on 11 'hotspots' around the world, including Galapagos, the Hawaiian Islands, the Antarctic and our very own Great Barrier Reef. The information on the Great Barrier Reef was developed with the help of our friends at the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
and the
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
(CoECRS).
Professor David Bellwood of CoECRS and
James Cook University
shared his thoughts with us on the importance of the drawing attention to the world's ocean.
"The oceans are out of sight, and out of mind. Only fishermen, scientists, tourism operators and the like really see what is happening, day to day. Our hope is that, through the medium of the internet, millions of people – young people especially – will now be able to develop a better feel for what is happening to our oceans, and maybe will be inspired to visit them and see for themselves. The Great Barrier Reef attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world every year. Thanks to Google Earth it will now receive millions more virtual visitors – many of whom will hopefully decide it is well worth a real visit."
Back in October
we worked with the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
to provide map data and updated satellite imagery of the islands, reefs, cays and rocks of the park and make them available in Google Maps. Their chairman and chief executive Russell Reichelt sees this new development as hugely valuable in helping them continue to educate the public about this remarkable place, presenting its natural wonders to everyone from school children to scientists.
But Ocean in Google Earth is not all we've launched today.
Until today, we were only able to offer one snapshot of a given place in Google Earth. With the new Historical Imagery feature, you can now move back and forth through years of satellite and aerial imagery, experiencing the development of a place over time. We've also added a Touring feature, making it simple to create a narrated tour just by clicking the record button and flying to your first destination
And last but not least, 3D Mars is the latest stop in our virtual tour of the galaxies. By clicking a button in Google Earth you can see high-resolution imagery, 3D terrain of the red planet's surface and more.
For those of you who keep track of version numbers, this is Google Earth 5.0. Why did we skip from 4.3 to 5.0? Because this update literally brings new depth and dimension to Google Earth, and we thought that was a pretty big deal.
Members of the Google Earth team will be publishing in-depth posts about all of the new features in Google Earth 5.0 on the
Lat Long blog
all week, so be sure to check back there often.
Posted by Raul Vera, Head of Geo Products, Google Australia
Labels
20%
3D
AdSense
AdWords
AdWords Express
Agencies
agencies adwords TV
Analytics
android
announcements
antarctica
App Marketplace
apps
art
Australia
Australian IT
big data
Big Query
blogging
blogs
books
broadband
business
calendar
campaign management
careers
CeBIT
chrome
Chromebox
cloud computing
competition
computer science
conversion tracking
creativity
currents
cyber safety
cycling
dashboard
Developer Day
developers
digital advertising
digital economy
Display
display ads
Doodles
drive
ebooks
education
Election
energy
enhanced campaigns
Enterprise
entrepreneurship
environment
Equatorgate
Fairfax
film
filtering
G'day Google
Getting Aussie Business Online
Gmail
gone google
gonegoogle
google
Google App Engine
Google Apps
Google Apps for Business
Google Apps for Education
Google Art Project
Google Australia
Google Chrome
Google Code
Google docs
Google Drive
Google Earth
google maps
Google Places
google play
Google Search
Google Serve
Google Sites
Google Talk
Google Trends
Google+
Googlers and culture
government
green
Guest blogger
guest speakers
Hangouts
HR
iGoogle
information
innovation
internet
internet industry
IT
Julia Gillard
language
life
local
maps
measurement
media industry
mobile
Moderator
movies
music
navigation
NBN
netball
new features
news
NGEN
non-profit
online advertising
online safety
open government
open source
Partnerships
picasa
play
Policy
politics
prime minister
privacy
prizes
PSI
publishers
puppies
real estate
Reception
recruitment
removals
rentals
reporting
research
Running
scholarships
schools
science
search
search ads
Security
shopping
sitelinks
sketchup
small business
smartphones
SMB
street view
student programs
students
Stupid Google employee tricks
Summer of Code
Support
survey
sydney
symphony
tablet
technology
Themes
tips
training
transit
translate
transparency
transport
Universities
vault
voicesearch
Wave
women
workplace culture
YouTube
YouTube Live
zeitgeiest
Archive
2018
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2017
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2016
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Feed
Google
on
Follow @googledownunder
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
