With the recent image updates to central London we can see how they’re getting on with the controversial Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

The aerial image was taken earlier this year and although there’s been some progress they still have a lot of work to do before it whole thing opens in 2011, by which point BAA will likely have spent over £4.2 billion.

These days that sort of money buys you 60 aircraft stands, 2 satellite terminals, a new control tower, a new motorway junction, a 4000 space car park, a new hotel, bored tunnel rail links, diversion of two rivers and the design of a roundabout to say “T5″.

Thanks: Adam

There’s been an announcement on the Google Earth Forums about another large imagery update for both Google Earth and Google Maps. From the Post:

• the whole state of Minnesota, South Carolina, North Dakota, Missouri (updated to 2005), Idaho, Maryland, and now full coverage for the entire state of Texas
• Updates to Florida (most of the state covered now)
• 15 high-resolution cities in Germany
• update for London, 2006 data at 10cm from Bluesky
• South Georgia Island (courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey)
• Albany, OR; Lubbock, TX; Port Townsend, WA; Portage County, OH; Trumball County, OH
• 32 Digital Globe Citisphere cities (updates and new coverage)
• In addition there was a significant update to the regular Digital Globe imagery all over the world.

So, if you’ve looked for something a while ago and found it was low-resolution, now’s the time to check again.

On the shores of the San Ignacio Lagoon in South Baja California, Mexico, we find a fittingly enormous geoglyph of a female gray whale and her calf.

The San Ignacio Lagoon is part of the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve which is Mexico’s most recent wildlife refuge. This giant drawing is probably part of the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaíno, where Grey Whales and many other species live and breed, undisturbed and in a protected environment.

Thanks to Julio Izquierdo.