



Bringing more of the place to the people. Google Street View images are available for five of the primary emergent land masses in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which are also part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Tern Island is shown here.

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The first 360-degree panoramic images from five new locations within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) are now live on Google Maps. Internet users can now virtually visit Tern Island and East Island at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, and Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

During July 2013, PMNM staff from NOAA and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spent a week capturing thousands of new panoramas of the incredible features in the Monument, covering 20 miles on foot using the Google Street View Trekker.

PMNM has collaborated with Google to use digital imagery and Web technology to bring Papahānaumokuākea to a broader audience and expand PMNM’s efforts to "bring the place to the people." In 2012, Google Street View went live with imagery of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. In total, more than ten thousand images across 41 miles have been captured from within the Monument.

Papahānaumokuākea is cooperatively managed to ensure ecological integrity and achieve strong, long-term protection and perpetuation of Northwestern Hawaiian Island ecosystems, Native Hawaiian culture, and heritage resources for current and future generations. Three co-trustees - the Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior, and State of Hawai‘i - joined by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, protect this special place. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was inscribed as the first mixed (natural and cultural) UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States in July 2010.