Technology: Google Street View takes a dip

Google has added new sights to its maps, and they're underwater. The panoramic images are part of Google’s World Wonders Project, bringing modern and ancient world heritage sites online.

Partnering with The Catlin Seaview Survey, a major scientific study of the world’s reefs, Google has made these amazing images available to millions of people through the Street View feature of Google Maps.

You can see an ancient boulder coral at Apo Island the Philippines. And in the middle of the Pacific, in Hawaii, you can join snorkelers in Oahu’s Hanauma Bay and drift over the coral reef at Maui's Molokini crater.

By the end of December, the expedition plans to survey 20 different areas of the Great Barrier Reef before moving on to other locations in Hawaii, the Philippines, and Bermuda. Future expeditions will also employ diving robots and special instruments for deep reef surveys, which could lead to the discovery of new species.

Google Maps' new ocean sections are definitely worth a look if you want to get an up-close view of some of the most gorgeous reefs in the world without the need for training or the risk of getting the bends.

You can explore more imagery from beneath the waves by visiting maps.google.com/streetview.