A Blue Hole in the Great Barrier Reef? Google Maps Leads Divers to New Site
A marine biologist found what he believes is a new Great Barrier Reef dive site with an assist from Google Maps.
Johnny Gaskell spotted a blue hole, or a large marine sinkhole, on Google Maps and decided to go check it out. The result — seen in the video above — is pretty impressive.
“After spotting this deep blue hole on google maps we decided to head far offshore, out further than our normal Reef trips to see what dwelled within,” wrote Gaskell on Instagram. “What we found inside was hard to believe considering 5 months ago a Cat 4 cyclone went straight over the top of it.”
Gaskell says he found healthy birdsnest and staghorn corals around 50 to 60 feet, noting that the coral life was more healthy and protected from the cyclone the deeper they went. He told Mashable that the blue hole is not as deep as the more famous Great Blue Hole of Belize, and he shied away from giving the exact location.
But with Google Maps at the ready, some Internet sleuths are already honing in on what could be a new Great Barrier Reef site for divers to explore.