Imagine a virtual explorer that
allows you to admire pelicans taking flight on a small canal snaking through a
flooded forest, among marshes and lakes. Then it veers off on Șontea Canal,
among wild vines, under the willows hanging over the nearing canal, creating a
spectacular vegetation tunnel. A few clicks away the scenery changes: a lake
covered in water lilies, with egrets, great egrets and pelicans. Birdwatchers can
also admire the cormorants feeding on Puiu Lake, or they can take a turn onto
Sacalin Lagoon. On land, you can also explore the traditional buildings in the
Delta, in Letea village, or may take a stroll on the narrow streets in the
village called Mila 23. In the end, you can relax on the Sf. Gheorghe wild
beach, or admire a panorama from the top of the old Sulina lighthouse. All this
is made possible by Google Street View, which last week opened the Danube Delta
to everyone.
Gabriela
Chiorean, communications manager for Google Romania, told us how the team got
the idea. It all started in 2012, when they seemed to be stuck, after covering
the length of the Danube from Bratislava to Cernavoda.
Three years ago, Street View allowed people to navigate the Danube
virtually from Bratislava to Cernavoda. We were missing something very
important. That very important thing is now available, inviting us to visit the
wonderful places in the Danube Delta. In the places where we couldn’t walk we
used horse view. The company used the tracker on islands, in the desert, but we
have never used this horse view, images from a horse drawn cart. We covered
over 1,500 km, on canals and on paths and roads. The tracker weighs a bit over
20 kg, and has 15 cameras so as to cover 360 degrees. Images are recorded every
two and a half seconds.
Camelia Ionescu, project manager for
WWF Romania, told us how her organization joined forces with this Google
project:
I want to point out why we, as an environmental organization, joined
this project. We have over 30 ecosystems with over 10,000 species that we have
identified in the Delta, many of them protected, we can talk about the Delta as
an area in which we find the largest compact reedy area in the world. We, as an
environmental organization, keep in mind the fact that the Danube is inhabited
by people too, and it is important that they have their own distinctive
culture. People have been using natural resources, took artistic inspiration
from nature, have decorated their homes with images of fish, sturgeon, and have
built thatched roofs over their houses. The Delta has economic value, the reedy
areas can be used for resources, while the fish population is an important
attraction for tourists: people come here to take in the sights, to fish, but
also to taste authentic fish soup that they make in the Delta. It was clear as
early as a year ago, when these talks started, that it would be extraordinary
for any person on the planet with Internet access to visit the Delta, it is
incredible, and we are convinced that this will help the Delta find a place in
people’s hearts. From there on it should be a small step towards protecting the
Delta, as people start to value it more.
Cristian Mititelu Raileanu went to
the Delta with the tracker, and it is she that we owe the pictures to. She told
us about his experience:
If you really add up all the canals and all that appears in blue on
Street View, maybe it’s not exactly 1,500 km, but I can tell you that I am sure
I walked more than that, because certain lengths of road took two or three
trips back and forth to properly cover the area. As for the tracker, this is
Google equipment in its mobile version, a portable camera system in a backpack
or on supports that allow it to be carried by a vehicle. In our case, in the
boat I had to use anchored makeshift wooden supports, because boats move
differently compared to cars. In the end it all worked out great, the images
were excellent, and the colors beautiful, so it was all as we wished. One of
the coolest moments was when we took a turn into a canal and we suddenly saw a
great flock of pelicans and cormorants, and I realized that all this would be
on Google. There are some things in the Delta that you don’t see all the time,
when you take a canal you may see something one time, and miss it completely
another time, like seeing hundreds of pelicans flocking on a lake or canal.
Those were the moments when I was wondering what the Street View images would
look like.
Elisabeta Moraru, Business
Development Manager for Google Romania, summed up for us the importance of this
project:
Imagine, at 8:15 in the morning, in a small mountain town in a
classroom, that the kids are coming in, and the teacher says: ‘Take out your
phones, today we are going on a trip to learn about the Delta’.
(Translated by C. Cotoiu)