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. It's not accessible by land.
“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.”
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.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for fighting oppression of women in Iran.
Cheddar News checks in midday on the coast-to-coast weekend weather forecast for Friday, Oct. 6, 2023.
Cheddar News checks in with your coast-to-coast weekend weather forecast for Friday, Oct., 2023.
France Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called a meeting of ministers for Friday to tackle the bedbug crisis.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age that people in England can buy cigarettes by one year, every year until it is eventually illegal for the whole population and smoking will hopefully be phased out among young people.
After a summer of record-breaking heat, scientists say the month of September proved to be far warmer on average than other months.
Cheddar News checks in with your coast-to-coast weather forecast for Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
After a summer of record-breaking heat, September also was far warmer than average months.
Cheddar News checks in with your coast-to-coast weather forecast for Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer be distributing vaccine cards.
