Google Street View Coming to an Ocean Near You

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Well, this is awesome. The Australia-based scientific expedition Catlin SeaView Survey aims to “document the composition and health of coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea across an unprecedented depth range” and to turn the photographic portion of that documentation into a searchable, Google Street View-type database built from 360-degree panoramic photographs. According to the survey’s website, “the images from the expedition, when stitched together, will allow scientists and the public at large to explore the reef remotely through any device connected to the Internet. It will allow them to choose a location, dip underwater, look around and go off on a virtual dive.” The project will get started in earnest in September, but you can head over to their website to check out some samples of the interactive imagery — and we think this is going to be pretty amazing. [via PetaPixel]