Some of the striking landscapes that inspired Charles Darwin can now be explored online. Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands are on Google Street View. The launch marks the 178th anniversary of the British scientist’s visit to the islands, which inspired his theory of natural selection. The high-definition 360 degrees pictures are a joint project of Google, Galapagos National Park and the Darwin Foundation. They were taken with a special backpack camera.
Camera crews dived with sea-lions, trekked on the islands’ biggest volcano and accompanied the famous giant tortoises on their leafy meal. Viewers can also see the less famous marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds. One can zoom in and out and move around the images. “The natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself,” Darwin had said after visiting the islands.