Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter
Take it from me
- from The Little Mermaid

Every so often, the Google Street View service does something cool enough to make you forget about the WiFi data collection screwup, and this is one of those things — at least for me.

With photographic help from The Catlin Seaview Survey, Street View now has underwater imagery from six coral reefs, all of which are available on Google Maps at maps.google.com/ocean. (Take that, Apple Maps.)

The locations include the Great Barrier Reef near Australia (shown in the image above), Apo Island in the Philippines, and a couple spots in the Hawaiian islands — including Molokini crater off Maui, one of my favorite snorkeling/snuba-ing spots. Trust me … the underwater imagery isn’t the same as being down there yourself, but it’s a pretty darn good substitute.

Here’s a short Google video showing some of the new undersea images and how the Catlin Seaview Survey took them. You enjoy it while I go research airfare to Maui.

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Street View

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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