QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The famed Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos Islands has lost its top, and officials are blaming natural erosion of the stone.
Ecuador’s Environment Ministry reported the collapse on its Facebook page on Monday.
The rock structure — 43 meters (141 feet) high, 70 meters (230 feet) long and 23 meters (75feet) wide — is less than 1 kilometer (about half a mile) from Darwin Island and it’s a popular spot for scuba divers.
The unique flora and fauna on remote islands, some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of mainland Ecuador are famed in part for inspiring Charles Darwin’s thoughts on evolution.