Woods Hole Institute Helps Create Google "Ocean"

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has helped create a new feature on Google Earth that gives an underwater 3-D view of the world's oceans.

The feature, called Ocean, uses imagery of the sea floor to explore beneath the water, just like Google Earth uses satellite images to give close-up views of the planet's surface.

Dave Gallo of the Woods Hole institute says Internet users can now see some of the most difficult-to-reach parts of the world.

"What the public can do is look at some of the incredible coastal areas, the reefs, see some of the life that's there — everything from the giant squid to shipwrecks to what's going on beneath the Arctic ice cap," Gallo says.

Users can also follow some of the institute's ocean expeditions online. Woods Hole is one of several scientific organizations that contributed expert content to the new site.