Google Street View
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Not everyone can explore the Galápagos Islands. There are a couple of flights and a handful of hotels on the inhabited islands, but you need a guide to take you to the visitor sites. With all the limitations, it's hard to pretend you're a 19th century explorer.
But your dreams of retracing Charles Darwin's scientific steps are about to come true! In May, Google took its Street View Trekker-a bulbous camera attached to a backpack-to the archipelago. The mapping team has already trekked to Mt. Fuji, the Canadian Arctic, and the Great Barrier Reef, to name a few.
The whole imaging expedition, a cooperative effort of the Charles Darwin Foundation, Google Maps, Catlin Seaview Survey, and the Galapagos National Part Directorate, took ten days. The team hiked through wetlands on Isabela Island, marched along the craggy shorelines of San Cristobal Island, and even dove beneath the waves off the coast of Floreana Island. The results of the 360-degree photo mapping trip (on land and underwater) launched last week.
To encourage virtual wanderers to participate in citizen science, iNaturalist and the Charles Darwin Foundation launched a site called Darwin for a Day. If you happen upon an interesting species during your digital treks, you can call them out and try to identify them. And being that the Pacific islands are some of the most biodiverse places on Earth, you never know when you'll run into a blue-footed boobie, giant ancient tortoise, frigates, or even a trove of sea lions.
Check out the gallery for our favorite island scenes.
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