A popular rock structure off the Galapagos Island chain known as Darwin's Arch has collapsed.
The Ecuadorian Ministry of Atmosphere said it was due to "natural erosion".
"The crumple of Darwin's Arch, the eye-catching all-natural bridge found significantly less than a kilometre from the main location of
Darwin Island, was reported," the ministry said.
The formation, labeled in honor of the British biologist Charles Darwin, is considered a major scuba diving place.
"Darwin's Arch is created of natural rock that at one particular time would happen to be a part of Darwin Isle, which is not available for trips by land."
Scuba divers on a vacation on board one of many liveaboard departures aboard the Galapagos Agresssor III, which delivers serviced diving cruise departures, suggested in a post shared on Facebook that one of its trip groups witnessed the episode take place.
"The fact is that currently, our visitors on the
Galapagos Aggressor III experienced a once in a life time event," the corporation shared.
"This morning at 11:20 a.m. local time, the world popular Darwin's Arch collapsed before their sight.
"Some within the scuba & vacation industry happen to be speaking about this now as 'The Pillars of Evolution'. We are going to miss this iconic site."