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Read the press release here.

Explore Nature On Governors Island With New Interactive 'Mobile Experience'

 A new series of signs and a mobile app will guide visitors through Governors Island's unique nature.
A new series of signs and a mobile app will guide visitors through Governors Island's unique nature.
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Governors Island

GOVERNORS ISLAND —  Sure, there are Jazz Age lawn parties, giant art installations, and even an entire 19th century house dedicated to holograms — but a new app is hoping to draw attention to another unique feature on Governors Island: its natural world.

The new Go Get Out tour, created by New York's Nature Conservancy, is a free form interactive experience, letting visitors to the island get a deeper look at the landscape, plants and animals that make Governors Island their home.

The mobile app works in connection with a variety of large signs now scattered throughout the island, offering a jumping off point for facts about the island's unique nature, like its 7,000 trees, oyster habitat and scores of birds.

(Photo credit: Go Get Out app/ Nature Conservancy)

A sign on the island points out the variety of birds, for example, while the Go Get Out app will offer photos and specific details about island regulars. 

For example, the American Oystercatcher (pictured above) is an island local.

"They use their large, orange beaks as a tool to smash open the hard shells of their prey to get their meals," according to Go Get Out. "Perhaps they should be called American oysterhammers and take up a side gig as carpenters."

The app also delves into plant life, the variety of animals that live in the New York Harbor, from seals to oysters and the island's new elevated parkland The Hills.

“Governors Island is an extraordinary place to visit, and the new signs and Go Get Out mobile experience will help link visitors to the island’s natural resources,” said Stuart Gruskin, chief conservation and external affairs officer at The Nature Conservancy in New York in a statement.

“Nature in urban areas is important to public health and quality of life, and we hope these signs will raise visitors’ awareness of the nature around them on Governors Island and, more broadly, New York City.”

To follow along with the mobile experience on your next trip to Governors Island, head to gogetout.nyc.