BLOG: Google goes to Mars and travels in time

Google began by pioneering ways of searching the internet, then Google Earth dragged exploration of land masses into the virtual age. Now, with Google Ocean, it has thrown open the doors to Neptune’s kingdom.

For the first time it is possible to visualise the 71 per cent of the planet that lies under water. Data from the US Navy and oceanographic institutes have been brought together to offer an unprecedented view of the seabed.

While flying through the deepest ocean trenches, across deep plains and over submerged mountain ranges, information appears on everything from deep-sea smokers – vents from which steam and minerals erupt – and shipwrecks to whale migrations and protected parks.

The underwater landscapes are modelled with the aid of sonar, usually taken from survey ships and submersibles. It means that some areas have scant detail while others where researchers congregate, such as Monterey Bay in California, are far more detailed.

“Part of our hope is that people who have these small patches of good data will be excited and come out of the woodwork,” said Steve Miller, the lead developer of Ocean in Google Earth, as it is known officially.

“It’s a huge thing to see all the undulations and terrain and sea mounts and trenches. But we want to engage people with everything from marine life to cutting-edge science as well.”

Networks of buoys, ships and other sensors provide vast amounts of marine data every day. Scientists have used a variety of platforms on which to share their information but none has reached the critical mass necessary to become a central hub.

Google’s new tool allows basic information such as temperature and salinity to be overlayed with species distributions and the tracks of tagged animals such as whale sharks, turtles and eels.

Dan Laffoley, marine adviser to Natural England, said: “With a user base of 400 million people, Google Earth has outreach like no other system. We now have a 3-D canvas on which to present different marine information. It is a fundamental opportunity to reconnect people with planet ocean.”

Sylvia Earle, former chief scientist of the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, said: “It’s only through tools like this that we’re starting to see the true global picture and understand how vulnerable we are to these great changes that are coming upon us.”

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