The landscape will never be the same again in the Galapagos Islands. The top of Darwin's Arch, the famous natural stone arch in the north of the islands, has collapsed. The arch, located less than 1 kilometer from the steep and rocky coast of Darwin Island, collapsed as a "consequence of natural erosion," the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and Water explained on Twitter.
This natural arch was named after the English biologist Charles Darwin , who studied evolution in the Galapagos during his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle in the early 1830s.
The ministry noted that while tourists have never been able to glimpse the arch from land (Darwin Island is not open to visitors) , the waters off its coast are open and "it is considered one of the best places on the planet to dive. and observe schools of sharks and other species ".
The rock structure was 43 meters high, 21 meters long, and 22 meters wide. Only the pillars remain.
"From a scientific point of view, it is part of the natural process . The fall is surely due to exogenous processes such as weathering and erosion, which are things that normally occur on our planet," explain officials from the Ecuadorian ministry.
In fact, the Galapagos Marine Reserve was designated to protect marine life, and the 19 Galapagos Islands are also recognized as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
