The Ocean tool combines renderings of underwater terrain with expert content from marine biologists and oceanographers, allowing web surfers to swim around virtual underwater volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby shipwrecks, and contribute photos and videos of their favourite diving spots. Google said that humans had only ever explored around five per cent of the world's oceans, which cover more than 70 per cent of the earth's surface and contain 80 per cent of all life.
The Ocean tool combines renderings of underwater terrain with expert content from marine biologists and oceanographers, allowing web surfers to swim around virtual underwater volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby shipwrecks, and contribute photos and videos of their favourite diving spots.
Google said that humans had only ever explored around five per cent of the world's oceans, which cover more than 70 per cent of the earth's surface and contain 80 per cent of all life.
Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said the launch of Ocean in Google Earth provided an opportunity to change people's perspective about the importance of the oceanic ecosystem in the overall health of the planet.
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"In discussions about climate change, the world's oceans are often overlooked, despite being an integral part of the issue," he said. "Biodiversity loss in our oceans in the next 20 to 30 years will be roughly equivalent to losing an entire Amazon rainforest, but this goes unnoticed because we can't see it."
The Ocean feature is included in the newest version of Google Earth. As users zoom in on the ocean they will see a dynamic water surface, which they can then "dive" beneath to navigate the sea floor. Areas available for exploration include the Mid-Ocean Ridge, the world's longest underwater mountain range, which stretches 50,000km around the globe.
Many of the world's leading scientists, researchers and ocean explorers have contributed to the fact files, videos and information sheets within the tool. There is even new and unseen footage from the archives of Jacques Cousteau, as well as the ability to track satellite-tagged sea animals, such as whales.
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