Mission Blue: filling in the blanks...

Last year, we launched Ocean in Google Earth, expanding the scope of Earth to include 3D maps of the world’s oceans and videos, photos and narrative from the world’s leading scientists and media sources to bring them to life. We worked with more than 100 partners to begin to fill in the “blue” part of the planet, adding hundreds of placemarks in more than 20 ocean layers. Since then, we’ve added hundreds of new posts to the Ocean layer with the help of Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue Foundation and dozens of committed individuals around the world. The posts come from a diverse range of partners including National Geographic, independent videographers and dive enthusiasts, government organizations like the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and international organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Today, the layer will become part of the default set of annotations seen by all Earth users. Although a humble step given the dearth of information available about these vast expanses of geography, we are happy to take one more step to make the oceans a first-class part of Google Earth and to give them at least a starter portion of the thick soup of photos and places that describe the land part of the planet. One of the greatest things about Earth is that it allows everyone to see and experience the fullness of their planet, from revisiting places they know well to venturing out to formerly unknown mountain peaks, desert vistas, and increasingly, the blue heart of life on Earth. As Sylvia has said of the Ocean on many occasions, “With knowing comes caring, and with caring there’s hope.”

Soon after last year’s launch, Sylvia asked attendees at the TED conference to help her realize a wish: to create a series of marine protected areas she calls Hope Spots. Sylvia and a group of influential thinkers are now on a Mission Blue Voyage to the Galapagos Islands to brainstorm how they might best achieve better ocean protection. You can follow them on their journey by visiting the the Mission Blue Foundation website and on Twitter at @MissionBlue. There you can learn more about the launch of their Hope Spots initiative and visit all 18 of these spots using the Google Earth plugin.


We’ve also created a narrated tour featured in the Ocean Showcase to introduce you to eight of the regions proposed for protection: the Eastern Pacific Seascape including the Galapagos Islands, the Gulf of California, the Mesoamerican Reef in the Caribbean including Belize, the Sargasso Sea in the mid-Atlantic, the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the Coral Triangle, the Ross Sea in the Antarctic and Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic.

We’d also like to take a moment to thank the partners who have helped us improve our 3D canvas of the world’s oceans in the past year: NOAA (global coverage), MBARI (Monterey Bay Canyon), The California State University at Monterey Bay (California Coast), The Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping - Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of New Hampshire (Arctic) and The Living Oceans Society (British Columbia and Canada).

As Earth Day approaches, we hope you’ll take a little time to explore the planet, including the blue part.

Getting to know Google Docs: Google Docs basics

Here's what you can do with documents:
•Upload and convert Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML, text (.txt), Open Office (.odt), and StarOffice Writer (.sxw) files (or create documents from scratch).
•Easily format your documents, spell-check them, etc.
•Invite others by email to edit or view your documents.
•Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
•View your documents' revision history and roll back to any version.
•Publish documents online to the world, as webpages or post documents to your blog.
•Download documents to your desktop as Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML or zip.
•Email your documents out as attachments.
Check out the Google documents Getting Started Guide
Here's what you can do with spreadsheets:
•Import and convert .xls, .csv, .txt and .ods formatted data.
•Export .xls, .csv, .txt and .ods formatted data and PDF and HTML files.
•Use formatting and formula editing so you can calculate results and make your data look the way you want it.
•Chat in real time with others who are editing your spreadsheet.
•Embed a spreadsheet, or individual sheets of your spreadsheet, in your blog or website.
Check out the Google spreadsheets Getting Started Guide
Here's what you can do with presentations:
•Share and edit presentations with your friends and coworkers.
•Import and convert existing presentations in .ppt and .pps file types.
•Download your presentations as a PDF, a PPT, or a TXT file.
•Easily edit your presentations.
•Insert images and videos, and format your slides to fit your preferences.
•Allow real-time viewing of presentations, online, from separate remote locations.
•Publish and embed your presentations in a website, allowing access to a wide audience.

Getting started guide

With Google documents, you can easily create, share, and edit documents online. Here are a few specific things you can do:

•Upload Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML or plain text documents, create documents from scratch, and download your online ones.
•Edit documents online simultaneously with anyone you choose, and invite others to view them.
•Keep track of who made changes to a document and when, and roll back to any version.
•Publish documents online to the world, as webpages or post documents to your blog.
•Email your documents out as attachments.

Read this guide to familiarize yourself with the main features of Google documents and get started creating your own.