Escape the Snow With Google's Virtual Tour of Remote Hawaiian Islands

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A sea turtle crawls through the sand, and rafters land on the beach at the Pearl and Hermes Atoll in Hawaii. New Google Street View images allow users to tour the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Image: Google

By Fran Berkman2014-01-21 18:14:54 UTC

As yet another major winter storm moves across the U.S. Tuesday, now 's probably a good time to tour a tropical paradise. For those of us who can't do it physically, a virtual tour will have to suffice.

Google Street View, perhaps better characterized as "beach view" in this instance, recently added thousands of 360-degree panoramic images of five landmasses in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The images of the five remote islands — Tern Island and East Island at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, and Pearl and Hermes Atoll — cover 20 miles located within the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

See also: 20 Strange and Hilarious Google Street View Sightings

A couple of U.S. government agencies — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — assisted Google in mapping the islands by having their staff members venture out on foot wearing the Street View Trekker. The imaging took a week's time in July 2013, according to NOAA.

The images show white-sand beaches, nearly abandoned by all but birds and other wildlife. Below is an example of one of the interactive maps, showing Tern Island. Navigate across the island using your cursor or the arrow keys while the cursor is hovering above the map.

View Larger Map

The locations of the islands, which are part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, range from about 550 to 1200 miles northwest of Hawaii's capitol city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu.

Image: United States Geological Survey via Wikimedia Commons

Explore the five newly-mapped islands in addition to a location on the Midway Islands (mapped in 2012 and also in the middle of the Pacific) by clicking the following links: Tern Island, East Island, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Midway Atoll.

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Topics: google earth, street view, hawaii, maps, photography, U.S., US & World, Weather