The United States is home to many underwater gems: the haunting shipwrecks of Thunder Bay, the colorful corals of Gray’s Reef, the barnacle-covered statue of Christ in the Florida Keys.
For most Americans, however, these sights are out of reaching. Though half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast, only a tiny fraction — fewer than 5 percentage, according to some industry estimations — actively dive or snorkel.
But thanks to an online project spearheaded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, everyone can now experience these underwater wonders in vivid detail. Diving knowledge isn’t required and you won’t even get wet; all you need is a smartphone, tablet or computer.

The Virtual Dive Gallery, launched earlier this month, allows users to explore U.S. national marine sanctuaries online. There are currently 360 -degree, virtual reality images of five sanctuaries available: the ship graveyard of Thunder Bay in Lake Huron, the Florida Keys, Gray’s Reef in Georgia, Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, and the coral reefs around American Samoa. A virtual reality headset isn’t necessary to enjoy the images, but constructs the experience all the more true to life.
” We can put a window to the ocean in the palm of someone’s hand and let them explore the underwater world and national marine sanctuaries through that window ,” Mitchell Tartt, chief of the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries’ Conservation Science Division, told The Verge this week of the VR gallery.
