Faroe Islands Lack Google Street View But They Have Sheep View 360

The Google Street View project has sent cars to photograph places around the world, but it has never been to the Faroe Islands. Some islanders have found a unique way to put itself on the map.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Now a story about a tiny island nation trying, literally, to put itself on the map. The Faroe Islands sit halfway between Iceland and Norway. About 50,000 people live there on an archipelago so remote it's not even included on some world maps.

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DURITA DAHL ANDREASSEN: Google Street View has been all over Europe, even to the top of Mont Blanc, but never on the Faroe Islands.

MONTAGNE: That's Durita Dahl Andreassen from a video produced by the country's tourism board lamenting its absence from Google Maps feature Street View. Those camera-equipped cars have an open invitation to visit the island. But in the meantime, the tourism board came up with a do-it-yourself solution.

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DAHL ANDREASSEN: In the Faroe Islands, there are twice as many sheep as people. They walk free in nature, and they get all around the islands. I have put a 360 camera on the back of a sheep. It's like Street View, but with sheep, Sheep View 360.

MONTAGNE: Yes, Google Sheep View. With the help of local shepherds, the islanders designed harnesses mounted with cameras. And the cameras upload photos and video tagged with GPS coordinates. Marketing manager Susanna Sorensen says, the sheep can get to places humans cannot, and they're bringing back spectacular images.

SUSANNA SORENSEN: It's very green this time of the year. We have sort of very steep slips, so it's a bit rugged and dramatic landscape. You can almost always see the ocean from wherever you are.

MONTAGNE: Or, in this case, wherever the sheep roam.

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