We LOOOOVE Mapping Marine Life!

World Database on Protected Marine Areas

As you probably have figured out by now, we LOOOOVE mapping marine life.  That's why today we bring you yet another cool way to use maps when researching aquatic life on earth.  A lot of times, we like what Google Maps Mania digs up. For example, take a close look at World Database on Marine Protected Areas.

Did you know that only 0.7 of the world's oceans are protected? The WDPA-Marine wants to provide the most comprehensive set of marine protected areas (MPAs) data available. Part of this effort involves a very cool Google Maps mashup that provides information about the less that 1% of protected ocean.

The map uses shaded polygons to highlight protected ocean areas. For each protected area it is possible to select a number of layers showing coral, mangrove, seagrass and saltmarsh locations. The map also includes layers to display Wikipedia articles, photographs and videos of the selected protected area.

Do you have a map that you'd like to share with us?  We'd love to hear about it!

Mapping Illegal Pools with Google Earth

As you probably know by now, we like maps.  This is yet another awesome map trick-this time involving location of Illegal Pools (found via GEarth Blog).  Apparently illegal pools are frowned upon up north, as the town of Riverhead, NY, located on Long Island, has recently started using Google Earth to track down backyard pools that don't have the proper license.

Mapping Pond Life on Google Maps

As you all know, we are fond of ponds and pond life. Today, I ran across something very interesting on Google Maps Mania- Pond Life Mapped!

The Natural History Museum in the UK asked the public to carry out water surveys in their neighbourhood. The idea behind the crowd-sourced survey was to help scientists learn more about how polluted our lakes and ponds actually are.

The Pond Health Score Map shows the location of the healthiest and least healthy ponds. Every survey has been given a health score depending on the invertebrates found. This map shows the pond health scores of the surveys submitted.

The Water Clarity Map shows where the clearest waters been found around the UK.

Checking Water Quality Using Google Maps Mashups

Recently, I ran across a very interesting map mashup (via Google Maps Mania) called Water Atlas, which is from from the Hillsborough County and City of Tampa allows citizens to check water quality, hydrology, rainfall and weather data from the county's water stations.

This is the type of thing I would like to see worked out for South Carolina Water Quality.

Depending on the type of water station selected you can view, daily rainfall, precipitation, water flow, elevation, temperature, velocity and conductance. Each information window also includes a link to view graphs of the stations recorded data for the last 24 hours, week and month.

It might make one reflect on the Water Trifecta, mentioned before on this blog.