Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Lorna Parry, co-founder and managing director of Underwater Earth, a nonprofit that reveals stories about the ocean through technology. In honor of World Oceans Day on June 8, Lorna talks about new underwater Street View images from around the world, and how the images reveal the ocean environment.

Under the surface of the ocean lies a magical and beautiful world that most of us never get to see. Along with the beauty, there are also sobering reminders of humanity's impact on the ocean—like bleached and dying coral and plastics that marine life consume. We hope our new underwater Street View images, available today in a Google Earth collection, will encourage people to fall in love with the ocean—both its beauty and fragility—and want to protect it.

I’ve been diving for decades and have been fortunate to see wonders like Australia’s Great Barrier Reef up close. But you don’t have to put on diving gear to experience these wonders. At Underwater Earth, we create 360-degree views of the undersea environment because we believe seeing what's happening under the ocean builds understanding and appreciation for protecting it. We don’t create these images because we want people to despair about the fate of the ocean, rather we want people to be inspired to save the beauty they see.

Our newest underwater Street View images, like the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard Island and New Caledonia’s coral lagoons, are breathtaking. If you don’t know a lot about coral reefs, then the color and variety can seem amazing. But the fluorescing colors are signs that the coral are trying, but failing, to protect themselves from the effects of the warming ocean—what we call “nature’s most beautiful death.”

Other new imagery in the collection shows “Million Dollar Point” in the Vanuatu archipelago in the South Pacific, where Jeeps and bulldozers were dumped when the U.S. Army left the area after World War II. The images are a reminder of the vision of the ocean as a place to endlessly dispose of rubbish, with no harm done. But the eight million tons of plastic that are dumped into the ocean each year doesn’t disappear. It harms marine life, and as marine life consumes the plastics it ends up in our food.

Inspired to act

Saving the ocean is not just about saving its beauty. It’s also about saving the planet, and ourselves, from the effects of climate change. The ocean provides us with oxygen and food. It absorbs heat to stabilize global temperatures. It drives our climate and our weather. Shouldn’t we become better acquainted with the ocean and do our part to protect it?

If people are inspired to protect the ocean, there are simple steps to take. You can reduce your reliance on plastic or buy sustainably sourced fish whose harvesting minimally impacts the marine environment. Every action, no matter how small, can make a difference.

The wonderful thing about seeing underwater Street View images is that they encourage people to learn more and to ask questions. When I take the images into classrooms, kids call me the “Ocean Lady” and ask if I’ve ever seen sharks. (The answer is yes: tiger sharks, whale sharks, grey reef sharks, black tip reef sharks, hammerheads—all of them are sleek, powerful and commanding creatures.) I hope these school kids will one day learn to dive, like my 9-year-old daughter. Then they can see the ocean’s magic and all of these sharks for themselves.

In the meantime, we have underwater Street View images to inspire awe about the ocean. You’ll find these images, and all underwater Street View images to date, in this Google Earth collection. They’re part of a new Street View category that’s available in Voyager on Earth for Web, Android, and iOS. Take some time to explore images like the Julian Rocks Nguthungulli Nature Reserve. One look at the Eastern Striper fish and spotted wobbegong sharks, and you can’t help falling in love with the ocean and wanting to save it.

This March, we put out the call for super sleuths to help us track down Carmen Sandiego in Google Earth. And we were blown away by the enthusiasm and speed with which people found the reformed VILE operative—who is now an ACME agent—by traveling from city to city around the globe.

You not only solved the caper, but also shared stories and memories of playing the original games, watching the shows (both old and new) and sharing the experience with friends, family and kids.

Today, we’ve teamed up with Carmen Sandiego once again—this time to help her recover Tutankhamun’s Mask. Le Chevre, a master climber and classmate of Carmen Sandiego at VILE Academy, has stolen the priceless artifact. We’re counting on gumshoes everywhere to help Carmen find him and recover the loot.

To get your assignment, look for the special edition Pegman icon in Google Earth for Chrome, Android and iOS. Good luck, detectives!

Each spring, the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation dedicate a week to celebrating the protected spaces in our communities. Today, we’re bringing the national parks to you in a Google Earth guided tour through 31 different parks around the country.

From the breathtaking vistas of the Shenandoah Valley to the awe-inspiring hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, the National Parks allow us to truly experience the natural wonders of our country. Start with the pink granite formations of Otter Cliff in Maine’s Acadia National Park, then head west to explore the ancient Pueblo dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Finally, complete your journey with a peek through the North Window arch in Utah’s Arches National Park.

Once you’ve virtually explored the national parks in Google Earth, we encourage you to put down your phone, put on some sunscreen and get outside to explore the wonders that our parks system has to offer. Start by finding the park closest to you.

I distinctly remember being tucked into the couch, computer on and ready for the chase. With my assignment from ACME (first stop: Paris) I traveled from Singapore to Tokyo to Kathmandu chasing VILE villains, always on the lookout for that iconic scarlet coat and fedora.

Like many of my friends, I spent much of my time in the ‘90s obsessing over “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”—the games, the cartoon and the classic game show. I can remember Carmen Sandiego teaching me the currency of Hungary (forint), the capital of Iraq (Baghdad), and dozens of country flags—Argentina’s blue and white, Germany’s black, red and gold.

But Carmen Sandiego was more than just fun facts for children and adults alike. The globe-trotting game taught me the world was bigger than my couch, and got me excited to learn about new cultures and customs. That curiosity has taken me to more than 30 countries. (Carmen’s also responsible for a theme song that has been stuck in my head for decades.)

To celebrate the global explorer in all of us, today we’re introducing The Crown Jewels Caper, the first in a series of Carmen Sandiego games in Google Earth. Created in collaboration with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the home of Carmen Sandiego, our game is an homage to the original. It’s for all those gumshoes who grew up with the chase, and for the next generation feeling that geography itch for the first time.

To get your assignment, look for the special edition Pegman icon in Google Earth for Chrome, Android and iOS. Good luck, super sleuths!