The official blog for Google Maps
Find treasure with Google Maps
March 31, 2013
Archeological analysis has confirmed that our Google Maps Street View team has indeed found one of history’s long lost relics: a treasure map belonging to the infamous pirate,
William “Captain” Kidd
.
The map was found on a recent expedition in the Indian Ocean, as part of a deep-water dive to expand our
underwater Street View collection
. Captain Kidd was rumored to have buried his treasure around the world, and tales of a long-lost treasure map have lingered for generations.
When Dr. Marco Meniketti, an independent archaeologist, confirmed that this was Captain Kidd’s 315 year-old map, we were very excited. However, as seen in the video, the map contains a variety of encrypted symbols and is not readily decipherable. We need your help to decipher these symbols and find Captain Kidd’s treasures; therefore we’ve decided to digitize the map and make it accessible to everyone.
Our digital version allows anyone to explore Captain Kidd’s long-lost treasure map
To access Captain Kidd’s treasure map, click
here
or on the “Treasure” button in the top right corner of Google Maps. If we all work together, we can solve the mystery.
Be sure to follow the
Google Maps G+ page
as we work together to decipher the clues to Captain Kidd’s buried secrets.
Tatsuo Nomura, Software Engineer, Google Maps
Update:
4/1 6
:44a (JST)
Due to our nascent nano-scanner technology we weren't able to scan to the closest zoom levels. If you come across a blank map, zoom out to get back to the treasure map.
Update:
4/2 12:16p
(PDT)
Upon further analysis of the hidden clues in the map, we've confirmed that the map does not belong to the famous pirate William Captain Kidd but was instead created by a Google engineer as a joke. April Fools!
Visit the
Google Maps G+ page
to follow the clues to these hidden letters
Imagery on Google Maps of Fukushima Exclusion Zone Town Namie-machi
March 27, 2013
From time to time we invite guests to post about items or interest and are pleased to have Mister Tamotsu Baba, Mayor of Namie-machi, Fukushima, Japan, join us here. - Ed.
Namie-machi
is a small city in Fukushima Prefecture sitting along the coast of the Pacific. We are blessed with both ocean and mountains, and known as a place where you can experience both the beauty of the sea and the forests. Tragically, however, since the nuclear accident caused by the
Great East Japan Earthquake
of March 11, 2011, all of Namie-machi’s 21,000 townspeople have had to flee their homes.
Two years have passed since the disaster, but people still aren’t allowed to enter Namie-machi. Many of the displaced townspeople have asked to see the current state of their city, and there are surely many people around the world who want a better sense of how the nuclear incident affected surrounding communities.
Working with Google, we were able to drive Street View cars through Namie-machi to capture panoramic images of the abandoned city exactly as it stands today. Starting today, this
Street View imagery
is available on Google Maps and the
Memories for the Future site
, so anyone from Namie or around the world can view it.
View Larger Map
Here is one of Namie-machi’s main streets, which we often used for outdoor events like our big Ten Days of Autumn festival that saw 300 street stalls and 100,000 visitors.
View Larger Map
Many buildings, like this one in the foreground, collapsed during the earthquake, and we still have not been able to remove them. We are also unable to repair damaged buildings and shops nor prepare them for the potential impact of further aftershocks.
View Larger Map
This image shows an area located one kilometer inland from the Pacific Ocean. In the distance you can see
Ukedo Elementary School
. Nearby Ukedo Harbor once proudly boasted 140 fishing boats and 500 buildings, but suffered some of the worst tsunami damage. After being set off-limits, we have not been able to clean up the wreckage on the side of the road, including the many fishing boats that were washed several kilometers inland.
Ever since the March disaster, the rest of the world has been moving forward, and many places in Japan have started recovering. But in Namie-machi time stands still. With the lingering nuclear hazard, we have only been able to do cursory work for two whole years. We would greatly appreciate it if you viewed this Street View imagery to understand the current state of Namie-machi and the tremendous gravity of the situation.
Those of us in the older generation feel that we received this town from our forebearers, and we feel great pain that we cannot pass it down to our children. It has become our generation’s duty to make sure future generations understand the city’s history and culture—maybe even those who will not remember the Fukushima nuclear accident. We want this Street View imagery to become a permanent record of what happened to Namie-machi in the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.
Finally, I want to make a renewed commitment to recovering from the nuclear hazard. It may take many years and many people’s help, but we will never give up taking back our hometown.
Posted by Mr. Tamotsu Baba, Mayor of Namie-machi, Fukushima, Japan
(Cross-posted and translated from the
Google Japan Blog
)
Create, collaborate and share advanced custom maps with Google Maps Engine Lite (Beta)
March 27, 2013
Maps are useful for visualizing and sharing information about places around the world. For enterprises,
Google Maps Engine
has been providing businesses with professional tools to help them organize large datasets, make decisions, and give their customers important details about their locations and services.
Of course, experts aren’t the only ones who love to make maps. Today we're launching
Google Maps Engine Lite (Beta)
, so any mapping enthusiast can now create and share robust custom maps using this powerful, easy-to-use tool. You can import small spreadsheets of locations onto a comprehensive map, visualize those places through a variety of styling and drawing options, and organize and compare up to three different data sets for your non-business purposes.
Here are a few examples of maps that’ve been created with the new lite edition of Google Maps Engine.
The MAPA Project
, a nonprofit dedicated to African conservation, used Maps Engine Lite to map the locations of “shark spotters” — trained observers who watch the water for sharks — along the False Bay coastline in South Africa. Spreadsheets of Shark Spotters locations and recent white shark sightings were both imported to create the map below. Learn more about how to recreate this map through
this tutorial
.
View larger map
Here’s another close-to-home use of this advanced custom mapping tool. I enjoy checking out local hikes with my dog, Amos, so I created a map using trail heads from
San Francisco Bay Area Hiker
and information about the different pet requirements on each route. The resulting map also denotes which hikes require a leash, and is great for sharing with my friends and other dog-loving hikers in my community.
If you have already created My Maps, you can import your existing
My Maps
, layering them with still more information to make them more detailed and helpful than ever before. These My Maps will continue to be available for people who want to create simple custom maps, and will eventually be incorporated into Google Maps Engine Lite.
Import your My Maps to Google Maps Engine Lite
While there is plenty to play with today, Maps Engine Lite is still in beta and available in English only, and we are eager to learn more about how people use it as we continue to build out more capabilities for the Maps Engine products.
To try Google Maps Engine Lite for your own custom mapping needs, visit
mapsengine.google.com/map
.
Posted by Beth Liebert, Product Manager
Live transit information in more cities on Google Maps
March 27, 2013
I use public transit to get around my city or to explore new ones when traveling. When on the go, I rely on Google Maps Transit to help me get to my destination using public transportation. We want to make sure you have access to the most comprehensive, accurate and useful information when you’re on the go – and that includes public transportation.
Starting today, you can view live departure times for seven lines on the New York City subway system (MTA), as well as for buses and trams in the greater Salt Lake City area (UTA). With these updates – part of the millions of live transit schedule updates we process every day – you get instant access to the latest information right on Google Maps, making trip planning a cinch.
Get live trip updates on Google Maps
Riders on the nation’s second largest subway, Metrorail in Washington, D.C., can now see live service alerts, including unplanned delays and scheduled track work, straight from Metro’s Control Center on Google Maps. To adjust your travel around the alerts you see, simply choose another suggested route or change your departure time.
Get service alerts on Google Maps
With transit information in Google Maps you get pick-up locations, departure times, estimated travel time, and even fare amounts for 800 cities* across more than 25 countries around the world – that’s information for 100 million miles of daily public transit trips at your fingertips.
Download Google Maps on your
Android device
or
iPhone
to get public transit information on the go. And if you represent a transit agency that would like to participate in Google Maps, please visit our site for
transit agency partners
.
Posted by Soufi Esmaeilzadeh, Partnership Development Manager, Google Maps
*Live trip updates are available in select cities.
Google Maps shows Amazon funds at work
March 26, 2013
Editor’s Note:
Today’s guest author is Gabriel Ribenboim from
Ritual
, on behalf of
Amazonas Sustainable Foundation
(FAS), a nonprofit organization implementing a large-scale social and environmental program in the Amazon. FAS was the recipient of a
Google Earth Outreach Grant
for Google Maps Engine, which they used to develop an accountability map for their investments in conservation and poverty alleviation. We are excited to showcase the Bolsa Floresta Platform. Our work with FAS is an example of how non-profits all over the world are using comprehensive, accurate and easy-to use Google Maps, Earth and geo tools to tell their story and help their audiences visualize their cause.
Since 2011, I’ve been working with the Brazilian nonprofit organization
Amazonas Sustainable Foundation
(FAS) and Google to collect
Street View for the Amazon
. One FAS’s most significative initiatives is the administration of the Bolsa Floresta -- Brazil’s first internationally-certified incentive program for the preservation of traditional communities and environment in the Amazon rainforest. As the largest payment for environmental services program in the world, Bolsa Floresta serves over 35,000 people, 15 state-protected reserve territories and covers an area of more than 10 million hectares.
Today, I’m excited to announce FAS’ latest project with Google: the Bolsa Floresta Platform - an online tool that allows you to explore and visualize a mix of social, environmental and economical map datasets for 15 protected areas in the Amazon.
Institutional transparency is a challenge for NGOs across the world. Tools that help track the impact of our efforts and present them in an accessible way are rare and normally require a significant investment. The Bolsa Floresta platform, built on Google technologies such as Google Maps Engine, Google Drive, YouTube and Street View helped us organize this kind of dataset in a way that is easy to visualize, understand and share with little in the way of programming complexity or investment.
Now, anyone can dive into the mapping visualizations of the State of Amazonas, navigate the rivers, forest, and communities through Google Street View imagery, or even browse 3D buildings inside protected areas. Most importantly, partners, government agencies and those who live within the benefited state-protected areas, can explore all kinds of informational map layers, enhancing institutional transparency, global awareness, exchange of sustainability practices and poverty alleviation solutions and improving internal planning capabilities.
The new platform is just one of the many ways FAS is using Google’s technologies to work towards a sustainable future on behalf of the communities of Brazil’s Amazon.
Explore the map now
or find out more about us at
fas-amazonas.org
.
Posted by Gabriel Ribenboim from
Ritual
, on behalf of
Amazonas Sustainable Foundation
(FAS)
Trekker takes on Canada’s Arctic Winter
March 20, 2013
Editor’s Note: Today's guest author is Chris Kalluk, a resident of the Nunavut territory and mapping expert at
Nunavut Tunngavik
, the nonprofit organization we’re working with to collect imagery and build more comprehensive maps of the Canadian Arctic.
There’s a saying we have in the north: unless you’re the lead sled dog, the view is pretty much the same. Today, I’m wearing a
Street View Trekker
- a backpack outfitted with a camera system - and walking the streets of
Iqaluit
, ready to explore Canada’s incredible Arctic and putting you at the front of the pack.
Here, in the capital of Canada’s Arctic territory of Nunavut, the average temperature is below freezing eight months of the year. The roads are covered in snow, the bay is frozen and polar bear sightings are a frequent occurrence. Winter up here is a way of life. And the only way to truly understand it is to see it for yourself.
Chris Kalluk, Nunavut resident, hiking the streets of Iqaluit with the Trekker
This is the first Trekker expedition in Canada for Google Maps. I’m wearing the backpack to collect Street View imagery as I walk to the shore of Frobisher Bay, where the wind is the strongest and you can see the tide piling up mountains of sea ice. On the way I’ll pass sled dogs tied up outside houses, yapping in anticipation of their next trip. And I may stop to check out an igloo, built by Inuit craftsmen using methods passed down over a millennia.
As part of its commitment to build a comprehensive and accurate map of Canada’s north, Google visited my home,
Cambridge Bay
, last August and published
imagery of the trip
that fall. But this visit to Iqaluit marks the first time the Google Maps team has ventured into an Arctic climate during the winter months, where average temperatures can dip below -30°C [-25°F].
Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead for Google Maps, surveys Iqaluit while collecting Street View imagery with the Trekker
At the end of the day, when it’s time to warm up, our community will gather around two dozen computers at the local library to conduct a
MapUp workshop
. I’ll work with Iqaluit’s elders, local business owners, political leaders and high school students to show them how we can use
Google Map Maker
to add the streets, shops and points of interest - those places that make Iqaluit home - to Google Maps.
Hiking Iqaluit with the Trekker and working as a community to make the map more complete offers us a unique opportunity to share our people’s land and culture with the rest of the world. And, in just a few months, when the Street View panoramas become available on Google Maps, you’ll have a chance to virtually walk these snowy streets for yourself.
I like to think of it as our chance to give you the lead sled dog’s view.
Chris Kalluk, GIS and mapping expert with
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc
Notes from the top of the world: A behind-the-scenes look at our latest Google Maps special collection
March 18, 2013
Today, we released
photos of the some of the most famous mountains
in the world on Google Maps. I was lucky to be part of the team that traveled around the world to capture the imagery and experience the mountains first-hand.
I’ve always had a sense of adventure. In 2011, when my colleague asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Everest Base Camp, I couldn’t resist, and we recruited a group of Googlers and fellow explorers to join us. Then we learned we could capture imagery of our trip for Google Maps with a tripod and a digital camera. We had plenty of room in our packs, so we loaded up our cameras and mountaineering gear, and hopped on a plane to Nepal.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport - the most
dangerous airport in the world
Our adventures began with the trek to Everest Base Camp where we spent 12 days in the mountains battling altitude sickness, an earthquake, mudslides, snow storms and flash floods.
T
he highest altitude we reached was 18,192 feet -- higher than anywhere in the contiguous U.S. -- and we hiked more than 70 miles (or 50 hours) during the trip. We carried our camera equipment everywhere we went and captured a collection of panoramas at key camps and other interesting stops along the way. Below are a few excerpts from the journal I kept during our trip:
Buddhist mantras outside the town of Lukla
Day 2:
Today we arrived at Namche Bazaar -- “the gateway to the high Himalaya.” It’s a good-sized town with lots of hotels, shops and a pharmacy. Many hikers stop here for altitude acclimatization on their way to Everest. During our stay there was
a 6.9 earthquake
! It was scary, especially when we realized we were in a developing country that doesn’t have infrastructure or emergency services like back home in California. We were fortunate that there was very little damage where we were.
Fisheye view of Namche Bazaar
Day 3:
W
e woke up to a clear morning. The mountains were absolutely spectacular! We spent the day taking pictures of the town with our Street View cameras and meticulously taking notes on a map so we could remember what we were capturing once we were back at sea level. Everyone, including me, is starting to feel the effects of the altitude (mostly nausea and headaches), and we’re barely above 11,000 ft.
Googlers Sara Pelosi and Andrew Swerdlow with Ama Dablam looming in the distance
Day 4:
The morning was a pretty easy walk, mostly traversing the mountain ridges. After we stopped for tea there was a long climb, "up up up" according to our guide, all on switchbacks. We stopped in Tengboche for lunch, then photographed the monastery with the fisheye lens. Amazing place. The monks watched us closely as we walked around. I don't know if they were more interested in the Americans or the photography. We continued on to Pangboche where we stayed for the night. When we got to Pangboche we saw a patch of blue sky and a rainbow. I'm still optimistic that we'll see at least a glimpse of the peak of Everest. Our guide says, "can be", which we’ve learned is the answer to every question. We're not even quite to 13,000 ft here. A long way left to go up.
The incredible Tengboche Monastery (
View Larger Map
)
Day 8:
We left early in the morning and hiked for about three hours until we reached a small village called
Gorak Shep
. The hike was flat along a river for several hours, then turned into a very steep climb. When we arrived at Base Camp, it was the most amazing feeling of accomplishment. We had finally made it to the base of the top of the world! We wouldn’t have gotten here without our expert guide and porters who know the mountains like the back of their hand and were essential to the success and safety of our trip. I barely stopped to enjoy the moment before wanting to accomplish the next goal - photographing the Base Camp where a real summit expedition had actually set up camp.
The Everest trekking group with our amazing guides
We’re honored to share this amazing imagery with you on Google Maps and show the world what life is like from its highest peaks! To see more of this collection, visit the
Street View Gallery
or download Google Maps on
your iPhone
or
Android device
.
And join us for a
Hangout on Air
today at 10:00 am PT where we’ll answer questions about our adventures.
Posted by Sara Pelosi, People Programs Manager, on behalf of entire expedition team
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