Google Earth’s Introducing Underwater View

Google Earth will be adding a new feature - undersea landscapes. These will include the habitats of threatened species that everyone with the program will be able to look at and explore.

The new project will encompass video streams, photos and stories from marine protected areas all over the world.

Natural England has contributed information from about 43 marine sites around the UK, that offer protection to endangered species, such as the basking shark, seahorses, corals and algae.

Lundy Island will be a big feature on the new system. The island, off the North Devon Coast, is England’s only statutory marine reserve, where disturbing the marine life is banned and it is somewhere all marine life have the chance to thrive.

Dr Helen Phillips, Natural England’s chief executive, said she hoped the new Google Earth feature would bring the marine environment to life and raise awareness of the need to conserve and enhance it.

She said: “There needs to be a change in attitudes towards protecting our oceans. The diversity of marine wildlife around England’s coastline is exceptional; we have everything from whales through to microscopic phytoplankton.

“But we need an enhanced marine protection system to help conserve our undersea environment.”Source: telegraph.co.uk