Sheep Fitted With Cameras Are Mapping the Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands—a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark that sits halfway between Norway and Iceland—are beautiful, but they’re also remote and filled with more sheep than people. Not surprisingly, Google Street View hasn’t arrived there yet. That’s why a team of islanders decided to launch their own quirky mapping project, called Sheep View 360, The Guardian reports.

The project's organizers decided to tap the islands’ most abundant animal resource by fitting five sheep with 360-degree cameras, which are mounted on special harnesses and powered by solar panels. As the sheep roam the island, pictures are sent back to islander Durita Dahl Andreassen, a member of tourism group Visit Faroe Islands. She then uploads them to Google Street View.

Sheep View 360 was launched to promote island tourism, but it’s also part of a campaign to convince Google to finish the project for them. Visit Faroe Islands even launched a petition and coined the hashtag #wewantgooglestreetview. So far, Google hasn’t commented, although it's important to note that people can apply to borrow Google’s camera equipment and create their own Street View tours.

The mapping endeavor began in April, Mashable reports. It's ongoing, and so far Sheep View 360 has captured panoramic images of five island locations. You can check out a video of their efforts above or view more sheep footage on YouTube.

[h/t The Guardian]

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