Whale Spotting in Google Earth
There are about 80 known whale species around the globe, the largest of which is of course the Blue Whale, which can measure up to a massive 30m long.
Such a giant beast should easily be visible on the aerial and satellite photographs of Google Earth, it’s just a matter of finding them…
To start with, there’s definitely a blue whale in this Japanese swimming pool, but I don’t think that counts.
The Route 66 landmark Blue Whale slide is so famous it even appeared in Sega’s King of Route 66 video game. More info.
Outside of UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory there’s an 85-foot long Blue Whale skeleton. The female whale was washed ashore of Pescadero Beach in 1979, after dying of unknown causes.
We’ve still not found any live whales though! Off the coast of Santa Barbara there’s a 10m long grey blob that could resemble a whale, or more likely a shark. Either way it would have to be very close to the surface to be seen so easily. I’m not convinced.
‘Reverence‘ is a sculpture by Jim Sardonis, which depicts two whales seemingly diving into the grass. The tails are each 12-13 foot tall and made of granite. More info.
Back in Japan, and Ueno Park has more than tails - there’s a life size Blue Whale diving into the ground. More info.
And finally, to Argentina, where there could just be real whales.
According to whale expert wildslide these are southern right whales who breed in this area during the months of May and October. Success!
Previously on Google Sightseeing: Whales! and Beached Whale
Thanks: The many people who thought they saw a whale, including: Jonathan_Tronson, FrequentFlyer, danescombe, bagabnoosh, kjfitz, Ralph Mettier, Nick, Jim Morton, Andrew, Rking, Yoshino, Barb, Caraurta, danescombe, Todd Pearson, Andrea from Italy, Nichole, James, A30 & John Hartnup
And of course the previously posted:
Whales! and Beached Whale
Just zooooom here for a good resolution on a whale !!!
http://www.wdcs.co.uk/media/flash/whalebanner/content_pub_en.html
Have you checked the whale sanctuary of El VizCaino in Mexico’s Baja California (just south of San Diego)? Here’s what seems to be a whale breaking vertical:
http://loreto.ehuna.org/pics/Whale-Sanctuary-El-VizCaino-WhaleBreakingVertical.kmz
On the other side of Baja (not the Pacific Ocean), the Sea of Cortez is also home to many whales who come to breed and deliver their calves every year.
There isn’t quite the resolution for it, but if you go to 32°51′57.73″N
117°15′0.13″W there is a whale scuplture in front of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla, California. Here’s a photo from the ground.
Here is the skeleton of a Blue Whale inside Manchester Museum. You have to enable the x-ray function on Google Maps but once you do you can clearly see it!
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Good work Romanov, and there’s actually another — a huge geoglyph of a Whale and calf — also at the El Vizcaíno whale sanctuary.
There is another whale skeleton in Barcelona zoo, inside Parc de la Ciutadella
Hmmm x-ray function’s not working today. Sorry cookie, i’m sure it was worth seeing all the same.
Near Fraser Island, Australia,
Some evidence of Whale activity.
Just missed him
Missed again
Near Fraser Island, Australia,
Some evidence of Whale activity.
Placemark: Just missed him / Google Earth
Placemark: Missed again / Google Earth
There are several whales found in this thread of posts at the Google Earth Community:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/644933/page/0
A whale in Japan??? where is the fishing boat to harpoon it in the name of “scientific” research
Glenn,
Before making a uninformed comment, you should learn what you are going to say.
Japanese respect (or “worship” would be the right word) whales, like any other living things on the Earth. All part of a whale is valuable and has some use for people’s life. not only the oil that the Westerner were interested in, but meat, bone, baleen, etc., etc. There is shrines for whales where whales are treated as gods and people thank them.
It is not 1940’s so you don’t have to do stupid propaganda to paint other kind of people with inhumane tone.
So, Yoshiki,
If Japanese people rever whales so much, why do they feel the need to disguise their wholesale slaughter of these creatures ion the name of “scientific research”
Why do they enter other countries’ territorial waters and international protected waters (namely the Great Southern Ocean) to persue and kill them.
They International Whaling Commission does a pretty poor job of hding the fact that the wahles will neither be protected or their hunting controlled.
Call it what it is - whale hunting (hasn’t changed in a few hundred years) !
My question is: what will you tell your children when all the whales are dead ?
Two whales north of Sandy Cape, eastern Australia: http://grputland.blogspot.com/2008/02/google-earth-shows-two-whales.html .
@Yoshiki
“Japanese respect (or “worship” would be the right word) whales, like any other living things on the Earth.”
I understand, that’s why Japanese make dog food out of whales:
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/38F865D143F73D29802571110037169A
Japanese adore whales so much they even waste millions of taxpayers money each year: “In essence, the government uses taxpayer money to persuade taxpayers to eat whales hunted with taxpayer money.” Source:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CEED6123BF93BA15756C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
“There is shrines for whales where whales are treated as gods and people thank them.”
Do you think of the factory ship Nisshin Maru, where money is the god and uninformed guys like you as well as the whalers themselves bow before it? Modern industrialized whaling has nothing to do with the century old Japanese whaling tradition and its shrines. Or did Japanese hunters and gatherers paddle all the way down to Antarctica to hunt whales? Modern whaling was introduced by General McArthur after WW2 to figth starvation in Japan.
You’re right, “It is not 1940’s”, i.e. Japanese don’t need whale meat any longer and should have abandoned their whaling practices for a long time. And Japanese should have learned to obey international agreements that prohibit commercial whaling. Instead, Japan tells lies to the world by pretending to do research.