Two interesting marine related Google Earth collections came to my attention:
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US Coast Guard – First, in honor of Earth Day last week, the US Coast Guard worked with Google Earth Outreach to release an excellent collection of Google Earth content which shows how active the US Coast Guard is around the world – especially with helping with the environment. You will find placemarks showing recent environmental safety missions (usually helping control oil spills on sinking ships), and you can even follow a research mission into the Arctic Ice. I really enjoyed viewing the layer you can download here
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Right Whales – Yesterday Google posted about a new KML collection showing reported Right Whale sightings
. Right Whales are an endangered species which are being closely monitored along the east coast of the North America. The US Coast Guard asks that you report any sightings over radio while at sea. You may recall I actually spotted, reported and photographed my own sighting of these amazing creatures back in February (while sailing to Miami). Unfortunately, the NOAA KML file released does not show reports of whale sightings in the Georgia/Florida area (a prime breeding ground of the Right Whales in the winter). I spoke to Kurt Schwehr of the University of New Hampshire who worked with NOAA to produce the file. NOAA has a sighting advisory system – so I reported my sighting there. Maybe it will show up in the KML file later.
About Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.