Editors’ note: This is the last post in a series of guest entries by members of the XL Catlin Seaview Survey team, a group dedicated to recording, researching, and revealing the world’s coral reefs in high-resolution, 360-degree panoramic imagery.

The XL Catlin Seaview Survey has made underwater imagery available to over a billion monthly users of Google Street View. Statistically, 99.9% of people don’t dive underwater so this is the only way for them to see these sights for themselves. But our mission lies beyond producing pretty pictures. The 750,000 panoramic images we’ve taken in 26 countries allows us to track change underwater - a change occurring faster than the ocean has seen in millions of years. We want people to feel that change by seeing it.
[Image] The SVII camera surveying bleached corals in the waters off Bermuda
Ocean change is as important as climate change, even if people aren’t aware of it. The ocean is the reason why we have life on Earth. Life evolved from it; it controls the weather; it determines how much water we have to drink; it produces 50% of the oxygen we breathe. And yet the ocean hasn’t even made it onto the main agenda of the climate-change discussions in Paris this year – which is surprising, as 93% of climate change heat is being absorbed by the ocean and is where the momentum of climate change is hidden from view.
[Image] The Great Barrier Reef has been severely hit by storms in recent years - 4 category 5 cyclones in the last 3 years.
These before and after images show the devastation caused by just one of these cyclones.
Fortunately we have a new weapon in the fight to win the public’s attention – Virtual Reality. We feel that going into next year virtual-reality products like Google Cardboard or Google’s Expeditions will help people see ocean change. They will see the Great Barrier Reef being smashed by a huge increase in high intensity cyclones and reefs that are literally turning white from the heat in locations such as American Samoa. The media, politician, business leaders, schools and the general public no longer have to rely on the word of diving enthusiasts about how sad these sights are, they will be be able to see and experience them for themselves. We’re looking forward to taking ocean change Virtual Reality to events such as Climate Week in New York in September and the climate talks in Paris in December before rolling out a global education program next year.

Posted by Richard Vevers, Executive Project Director of the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, sponsored by speciality insurance company XL Catlin.