Site of the week Virtual Galapagos http://www.terraquest.com/galapagos
In early 1996, a group of scientists and photographers embarked on a voyage to the Galapagos Islands. But this was no ordinary expedition - its aim was to take the details of the trip, as it progressed, and put them together into a vast and visually astounding website: Virtual Galapagos. This really is the kind of wildlife site we all want to see: it’s packed with clever up-to-the-minute web technology that gets you as close to the famous beginnings of Darwin’s theory as you’re likely to get for the cost of a local phone call.
Browsing through the site is simple, and you can dive in wherever you like. If you go to the photo gallery, you’ll find more than the usual, random collection of pictures found on most sites: these are from the expedition itself. Look out for the great fisheye lens shot from the ship’s mast.
But the fun doesn’t end there: the panoramic views in the QTVR section will blow your socks off. You need the latest version of the QuickTime plugin to have them up and running, but soon you’ll be seeing the world in a whole new way - swinging from the ship’s rigging, and coming face to face with sealions. The views you see are interactive - with your mouse you can ‘look’ wherever you like, 360 degrees around you, and zoom in and out to have a closer look at something.
Once you’ve got over the excitement of the views, you’ll find plenty of excellent reading material. The site is brimming with factfiles on the famous Galapagos wildlife and plantlife, and there are photos, movies and sounds to go with them. The ‘Education Workbook’ is tailored for school visits, and has it’s own picture gallery as well as reports from younger visitors to the islands. Move on to the Evolution section, which gives a good introduction to natural selection and the story behind the evolution
Richard Northover
Info-content *** Readability ** Appearance *** Kids *** Plugins QuickTime 4