Google Earth goes into oceans

First up, there's been great anticipation about a rumored 'Google Ocean'. Well, Google has met the anticipation of new ocean data - but, they're not releasing a separate product. It's all in Google Earth 5. First, we now have 3D bathymetry. Those new blue ocean floor magery is not just a 2D relief map - they are now 3D terrain. Move your mouse over the ocean and you'll see below sea level elevations (negative numbers). But, the real surprise is when you first start flying towards the ocean and tilt your view. You now see an ocean surface! And, if your graphics card is new enough, you see wave motion on the surface.
The real pleasure comes when you fly under sea surface. You can both see the 3D bathymetry and see the surface above you for a real submarine-like experience!
And, there is a huge amount of new ocean related layers. Under the Layer pane in the lower left you'll see a new "Ocean" layer folder. The folder contains a number of interesting new layers including material from National Geographic, Cousteau Society, BBC, NOAA, and more. There are locations of shipwrecks, tracks for ocean expeditions, GPS tracks of sea animals, and lots of information about the ocean environment. This was significant enough that Al Gore came to make the announcement. More on all of this in future posts. Especially given my interests in the ocean.