[Verybest23]

Shallow reef surveys will involve scientists using state-of-the-art digital technology to capture images of the reef that can be linked to create a virtual dive experience. Automated technologies for rapidly assessing the amount of amount of coral cover and other life forms will provide a “baseline” for understanding change. The cameras for the shallow reef survey, the SVII, have been specially designed to take 360-degree, geolocated panoramic images every 4-6 seconds while travelling at 4 kph. here

[europazuz]

The deep reef survey will use diving robots and HD cameras to explore and reveal habitats that are rarely visited by humans. In ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, more than 90% has not been explored because it is more than 40m – too deep for scuba divers. here

[Jeniferleona]

The survey aims to make the underwater experience accessible to the public in a way that has never before been possible, and help bridge the gap between scientific awareness and public knowledge. It is sponsored by the UK-based insurance company Catlin, and backed with technology from Google and support from NGOs, research institutes and the University of Queensland (UQ). more

[Sabunir]

Millions of people will be able to take a virtual dive on the Great Barrier Reef via Google Maps on Wednesday as part of a pioneering underwater scientific expedition.

[qqi456]

The imagery will be available to more than 1 billion monthly users of Google Maps around the world, as well as through a dedicated YouTube channel, Google+ and Panoramio, a geolocation photo-sharing website. The survey was launched with a live night dive via a Google+ Hangout at the Blue Ocean film festival in Monterey, California.

[r4king]

Once they navigated to where they thought the blue hole was, Johnny dove in. more

[octopus]

Just under the water lies one of the biggest mysteries of the Great Barrier Reef: blue holes. These underwater sinkholes give researchers a rare look at ocean life and how we can protect it. Until a few years ago, only two blue holes were documented in the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef — they are hard to find and even harder to get to.

[ByteCoin]

With the help of Google Maps, a discovery that would have taken years of underwater exploration on the seafloor is now allowing researchers to expand our understanding of the world’s largest ecosystem. Today, Johnny is still working to build a snapshot of coral reef conditions. Working with Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Reef Census project, they are using geotagged images to give everyone — from scientists to students — a better idea of what’s going in depths of the water whether they dive in or not.

[Mira]

With the satellite view of Google Maps on their phones, they navigated their boats through narrow channels in unsurveyed waters until the blue dot on their map was directly over the blue hole. Johnny dove in and found healthy coral formations that have sat undisturbed, possibly for centuries. Along the edges were delicate birdsnest corals, vibrant giant clams and huge branching staghorn corals. In the stillness of the blue hole’s center, there were green sea turtles, giant trevally and sharks that all called the dark, cool water home.

[spidr_mnky]

Starting today, you can use Google Maps to find a sea turtle swimming among a school of fish, follow a manta ray and experience the reef at sunset—just as I did on my first dive in the Great Barrier Reef last year. You can also find out much more about this reef via the World Wonders Project, a website that brings modern and ancient world heritage sites online.
more

[mediscience]

Today we’re adding the very first underwater panoramic images to Google Maps, the next step in our quest to provide people with the most comprehensive, accurate and usable map of the world. With these vibrant and stunning photos you don’t have to be a scuba diver—or even know how to swim—to explore and experience six of the ocean’s most incredible living coral reefs. Now, anyone can become the next virtual Jacques Cousteau and dive with sea turtles, fish and manta rays in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii.

[bijenu]

At Apo Island, a volcanic island and marine reserve in the Philippines, you can see an ancient boulder coral, which may be several hundred years old. And in the middle of the Pacific, in Hawaii, you can join snorkelers in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay and drift over the vast coral reef at Maui's Molokini crater.

[vsheldonguzmanw]

We’re partnering with The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major scientific study of the world’s reefs, to make these amazing images available to millions of people through the Street View feature of Google Maps. The Catlin Seaview Survey used a specially designed underwater camera, the SVII, to capture these photos.

[jlebeau]

In view is Heron Island Reef, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef off the Queensland coast in Australia. more

[TodX]

Author & photographer: David Johnson (Virtual Australia). Providing a credit or link is appreciated.
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Original versions of our photos can be purchased / licensed & web versions can be shared subject to conditions.

[knight]

[Kristen8Fuller]