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Reuters

Darwin’s Arch, a famed natural rock formation in the Galapagos Islands that is popular with divers, photographers and cruise-ship tourists, has collapsed from erosion, Ecuadorean environmental officials said.
Photographs posted on social media by Ecuador’s Environment Ministry showed rubble from the curvature of the arch visible in the ocean, with the two supporting columns still standing.
“We report that the iconic Arc of Darwin collapsed,” the ministry wrote in Spanish on its Facebook page.

The arch, named for British naturalist Charles Darwin, stands at the northernmost tip of the Galapagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean 965km (600 miles) west of Ecuador.
Once a part of Darwin’s Island, the arch is famed for the variety of underwater life teeming nearby, including schools of hammerhead sharks.
Tourists are not allowed to set foot on the arch or island.
“Obviously all the people from the Galapagos felt nostalgic because it’s something we’re familiar with since childhood, and to know that it has changed was a bit of a shock,” said Washington Tapia, director of conservation at Galapagos Conservancy. “However, from a scientific point of view, it’s part of the natural process. The fall is surely due to exogenous processes such as weathering and erosion which are things that normally happen on our planet.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Environment

Darwin’s Arch, famed Galapagos Islands rock formation, collapses

The formation, which is found in the northern part of the archipelago and named after the famous English biologist Charles Darwin. Photo: AP

Handout photo released by the Ecuadorean Ministry of Environment of the Darwin Arch after it collapsed near Darwin Island, Galapagos, Ecuador, on May 17, 2021. - The famous rock formation off the Galapagos Islands known as Darwin's Arch has collapsed due to "natural erosion," the Ecuadoran Ministry of Environment said Monday. (Photo by Hector BARRERA / Ecuador's Ministry of Environment / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT AFP PHOTO / ECUADOR'S ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY / HECTOR BARRERA - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS -DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Chinese crew given four years in jail by Ecuador for illegally fishing in the Galapagos Islands

In this August 13, 2017 handout provided by the Galapagos National Park, a park ranger takes part in the inspection of a Chinese flagship where 300 tonnes of marine species, several of them in danger of extinction, were found, in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. The ship and its crew were sentenced to jail. Photo: Galapagos National Park via AP

Crew members of the Chinese-flagged ship confiscated by the Ecuadorean Navy arrive in court for a hearing, in San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands on August 25, 2017. The Ecuadorean Navy reported on August 14, 2017 that a Chinese-flagged vessel had been seized in the Galapagos Marine Reserve carrying some 300 tons of fish, including several endangered species such as the hammerhead shark. / AFP PHOTO / JUAN CEVALLOS

Outcry as Ecuador allows US military to use Galapagos Islands airstrip

US P-3 Orion. Photo: AFP

Kicker Rock at Galapagos near San Cristobal Island, Ecuador Kicker Rock is a great place for viewing sharks. - Image

A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish ‘Galapagos is not to be sold, but to be defended’ during a protest against plans to allow the US military to use an island. Photo: AP

She lives! Fernandina Giant Tortoise, a species thought extinct for a century, is found alive on Galapagos Islands

A female specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise species Chelonoidis phantasticus, thought extinct for about a century ago, is seen at the Galapagos National Park on Santa Cruz Island on Tuesday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

epa07385181 A handout photo made available by the Environment Ministry of Ecuador shows officials of the Ministry and the Galapagos National Park as they carry the specimen of a giant turtle species that was believed to be extinct, at the Fernandina Island, in Galapagos, Ecuador, 20 February 2019 (issued 21 February 2019). The finding of a specimen of a giant tortoise species, which was believed extinct a century ago, arouses hopes in the scientific community to locate new individuals of its type in the so-called Enchanted Islands of Ecuador. The adult female turtle found on Fernandina Island is of 20 kilos and a carapace of more than half a meter, could border the one hundred years, according to the marks and some morphometric characteristics of the carapace. EPA-EFE/ECUADOR ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

epa07385178 A handout photo made available by the Environment Ministry of Ecuador shows the specimen of a giant turtle species that was believed to be extinct, at the Fernandina Island, in Galapagos, Ecuador, 20 February 2019 (issued 21 February 2019). The finding of a specimen of a giant tortoise species, which was believed extinct a century ago, arouses hopes in the scientific community to locate new individuals of its type in the so-called Enchanted Islands of Ecuador. The adult female turtle found on Fernandina Island is of 20 kilos and a carapace of more than half a meter, could border the one hundred years, according to the marks and some morphometric characteristics of the carapace. EPA-EFE/ECUADOR ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

This handout photograph obtained February 21, 2019 courtesy of Animal Planet shows biologist Forrest Galante with the Fernandina Tortoise, thought to have been extinct, found on a volcanic island on February 17, 2019 in the Galapagos archipelago. - The Fernandina Tortoise, presumed extinct since 1906, has been rediscovered on a remote volcanic island in the Galapagos, during an Animal Planet funded expedition for the series Extinct or Alive. (Photo by Mark ROMANOV and John Harrington / Animal Planet / AFP) / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / ANIMAL PLANET / Mark ROMANOV & John HARRINGTON" / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

epa07385180 A handout photo made available by the Environment Ministry of Ecuador shows the specimen of a giant turtle species that was believed to be extinct, at the Fernandina Island, in Galapagos, Ecuador, 20 February 2019 (issued 21 February 2019). The finding of a specimen of a giant tortoise species, which was believed extinct a century ago, arouses hopes in the scientific community to locate new individuals of its type in the so-called Enchanted Islands of Ecuador. The adult female turtle found on Fernandina Island is of 20 kilos and a carapace of more than half a meter, could border the one hundred years, according to the marks and some morphometric characteristics of the carapace. EPA-EFE/ECUADOR ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

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The formation is considered a premier diving location
Only the two stone supporting columns remain



The famed Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos Islands has lost its top, and officials are blaming natural erosion of the stone.


Darwin’s Arch, famed Galapagos Islands rock formation, collapses

The formation is considered a premier diving location Only the two stone supporting columns remain

The formation is considered a premier diving location

Only the two stone supporting columns remain