[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4NkUpot_s&feature=player_embedded#at=148[/youtube]
Ever wanted to go play submariner and get a drive-by view of the ocean floor? Well thanks to the ever-evolving team at Google Earth you can get a new beneath the sea version of Google Earth with an up close and personal view of the sea floor. Scientists may have only mapped 10% of the entire sea floor but Goggle has 50% of that information loaded and ready to go.
You can now take a scenic journey beneath the waves that includes Hudson Canyon off New York City, the Pacific Ocean’s Lamont seamounts off the US Pacific Coast, and even the the Mariana trench. If you are more rebellious and want to do your own exploring, just dive beneath the waves and keep your goggles peeled for the red lines that trace the mapped parts of the seafloor and the dots that pinpoint specific scientific discoveries.
The New Scientist suggests to get your bearings watch the 2011 Seafloor Tour and the Deep Sea Ridge 2000 Tour, which will show you hydrothermal vents and the deepest volcanic eruption ever captured on video at the West Mata volcano, near Fiji. Another suggestion is a trip to the Google Earth’s Ocean showcase with heaps of videos and tutorials.
[from Gizmodo via New Scientist]
