Time to dive into Google Ocean?

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 26 Jan 2009 at 17:43

Having already conquered the land and the sky, Google is preparing to add maps of the sea beds to the Earth package.

The company is expected to launch Google Ocean at the California Academy of Sciences next week, which includes an aquarium among its attractions.

Vice President turned environmental evangelist, Al Gore, will join Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt and vice president of search Marissa Mayer at the event.

Invitations reportedly describe the launch as "the next big step in the evolution of Google Earth".

The upgrade is expected to provide underwater topography, with a layer showing the depth of the sea floor. It will allow users to search for particular points of interest, such as famous shipwrecks.

Google Ocean is also expected to include underwater photography, although experts have stated that it would take hundreds of years of ship time to photograph the entire ocean bed at high resolution.

Click here to read our guide to the hidden power of Google Earth.

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