The “Mobile Ranger Santa Cruz Wharf” app-tour tells of the wharf’s 100-year history and highlights the surrounding marine ecosystems and its wildlife.
The goal is for visitors to have a richer experience on the wharf by helping them discover, appreciate and connect to the natural surroundings, the company said.
The Santa Cruz Wharf is turning 100 years old this year. Built in 1914, its past is composed of shipping, fishing, dining and shopping. Economic and business interests generally dominated its first century.
Looking forward, the city of Santa Cruz wants to create a new future for the wharf as a landmark destination that showcases the Monterey Bay’s natural riches -- essentially ecotourism.
Mobile Ranger views the wharf app-tour as a new model for creating ecotourism- related apps.
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The wharf app-tour incorporates the pre-existing Santa Cruz EcoTour, which features the environmental resources along the Santa Cruz coastline.
It has ten stops from the Santa Cruz Harbor to the Seymour Center, with five of the stops focusing on the Santa Cruz Wharf.
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The Seymour Marine Discovery Center provides guided tours of the 5 wharf EcoTour stops on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 3 pm: otherwise, the EcoTour is self-guided.
It began as an idea by UCSC student Ian Hunter and was implemented with support by the UCSC based IDEASS program, the City and several local non-profits.
The original vision for the EcoTour was to have it be a mobile app for smartphones, but lacking the resources a sign-based QR code approach was used first.
You’ll see signs for the free wharf app-tour on the wharf and at all the EcoTour stops and can download it on location. The release of the app-tour is timed to be ready for the May 17th Sanctuary Celebration event on the wharf.
Mobile Ranger would like to thank all people and organizations involved with the EcoTour and creation of Mobile Ranger’s wharf app-tour: the City of Santa Cruz; the University of California Santa Cruz, including the Kudela Lab of Biological Oceanography; the Seymour Marine Discovery Center; the National Marine Sanctuaries: Monterey Bay; the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History; the Santa Cruz Harbor; Save Our Shores; the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum; the Green Wharf Project; and the Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council.
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