Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
Whilst passing over the Atlantic, it seems the satellite has managed to capture an image of a huge patch of completely empty ocean! Yes, this high-resolution patch right in the middle of the Atlantic contains absolutely nothing.
Except a small cloud.
And its shadow of course.
Hmm. Okay, this is a bit of a non-post, but what did Google think they were going to find when they purchased this image?
Thanks to Tim, Vincent Ursem and adrian.
This form will auto-link URLs or you can use simple HTML, <a href="http://googlesightseeing.com">Like this</a>.
Link to specific places either as a Google Maps page or a decimal latitude and longitude written like this: lat/lng:55.949400,-3.200000.
If you've found an unrelated sight that you think should be posted in its own entry then use the suggestion form!
hmm, maybe Google is trying to find the Thunderbirds island?
quite useless, hahaha. but hell how did you find that point? you searched all the ocean for what?
The Lost City of Atlantis perhaps?
I found this ages ago, but didn’t bother submitting it becuase I thought it was too boring. It is odd though.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Any idea what the symbol in the middle is?
There appears to be 3 whales in the lower center of the hi-res area as well as a splash perhaps from another whale.
James, the “3 whales” is the shadow from the cloud, the “Splash” is the cloud itself. Click the links in the original post.
Yeah, it’s pretty useless, but you have to admit that the level of detail is pretty cool. Could this be some kind of test image? Perhaps Google purchased it just to see what it would look like?
Are you sure the shadow is not some small atoll? At the right time of day evaporate off the rocks might have caused the clouds, if they’re *really* low that is.
Maybe they purchased it because they got a good price on it and they knew it would never have to be updated (at least in geologic time).
They’ve captured a very BLUE ocean.
Now they can overlay anything they want there, just like the Weather Channel …
It’s the site of a significant underwater volcano, which, before it subsided, was the largest peak on Earth topping Mount Everest by a few hundred foot.
Now, who believed me?
Sexy.
This is just like Seinfeld….A post about nothing.
Nah. It’s a ‘The Best Caption by Lee Wins a Free Copy of Our Book’
There appears to be a spot just as blue and even more nondescript in the middle of the Pacific:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
that’s one fine piece of ocean…
Shouldn’t “its” [sic] have an apostrophe, since it is a posessive?
Sorry rob, but no it shouldn’t! Me = Author, see? ;D
Ah yep, its a personal pronoun, My mistake - Im just a random commenter. :p
Hey you guys - if i’d wanted an English lesson i would have concentrated at school more!
As it is i might take my laptop into B&Q and get them to try and make a paint up in that colour - i’m thinking of painting the bathroom and i could have it in authentic Mid Atlantic Blue.
Lee, nice try - give us a few more and we’ll consider it
Cookie, perhaps you could get a trademark on your new colour?
Cookie can’t have it! - that blue right there has “© Google” written all over it…
Here’s another one, but only visible in Google Earth (not Maps):
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
It looks like there is a small yacht in that poatch, Ocean
Haven’t Japan and Russia been fighting over that patch of empty ocean for the last 65 years?
Maybe it’s one of those 3D-stereogram pictures.