Google’s Street View now offers mind-blowing images from under the oceans

You don’t have to be an obsessive deep-sea nerd to appreciate the wonder of Google’s latest extension of Street View to the world’s oceans.

The company announced today that it has added a wealth of interactive Street View imagery that it had gathered in partnership with XL Catlin Seaview Survey, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Chagos Conservation Trust.

The timing is intended to coincide with World Oceans Day on June 8. Google hopes the project will not only educate people about the oceans, but highlight the damage being done.

“Home to the majority of life on Earth, the ocean acts as its life support system, controlling everything from our weather and rainfall to the oxygen we breathe,” the company says in the blog post. “Yet despite the ocean’s vital importance, the ocean is changing at a rapid rate due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing, making it one of the most serious environmental issues we face today.”

Using GPS stamped photos, the company will also build a timeline of images to create a visual record of the deterioration.

According to this video, the project has actually been in the works for four years:

Google is bringing aboard more partners to gather more images, and help raise awareness of the fragile state of the world’s oceans.

Not to be all mushy and everything, but it’s pretty hard to look at these images and not be reminded of the enormity and beauty of the world.

And, of course, how we’re doing our best to crush all of that.