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Gone in 60 seconds
By Michael Davis and Katrina Strickland
July 04, 2005
http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,5023521,00.jpg
A view of the Apostles after the collapse of one of the sea stacks yesterday / Richard Cisar-Wright ONE of the famous Twelve Apostles collapsed into a heap of rubble yesterday, destroying in seconds a landmark nature had taken 20 million years to create.
The 70m-high limestone monolith off Victoria's Great Ocean Road crumbled shortly before 9.20am, in a relatively moderate swell, after a huge crack opened up on the seaward side.
Only eight Apostles now remain. Yesterday's collapsed pillar - the second of the group, looking northwest from the main viewing platform - was lying as a forlorn pile of rubble last night just metres above sea level.
"It won't be the same sort of photo any more," Otway Discoveries tour guide Sally Ryan said as she stood on the blustery boardwalk near Port Campbell, at the western end of the Great Ocean Road.
A 15-year-old Sydney boy, on holiday with his parents, took two photos a minute apart at 9.18am and 9.19am.
One minute the sea stack, which geologists say could have formed 6000 years ago, was there. Then it was gone, crumbled into the sea.
Parks Victoria duty ranger Natasha Johnson arrived on the boardwalk about 20 minutes after the collapse.
"The family was still absolutely stunned by what happened," she said. "They just couldn't believe it.
"The mother said she had noticed the base of the structure shimmer and shudder and then all of a sudden it collapsed like an old building being demolished.
"They had already been out to see the Twelve Apostles yesterday and decided to have one more look at them before they continued on their holiday to Adelaide."
One witness told the Nine Network she was glad she had been there. "I think it's quite spectacular actually, to see how different creations of the earth move," she said.
Bernie Joyce, from the earth science department of Melbourne University and a member of the heritage sub-committee of the Geological Society of Australia, said waves would have been chipping away at the sea stack by a few millimetres every year.
"Some of it is very soft - a combination of limestone, sandstone and fossils," Professor Joyce said. "It was always going to happen but rain or a severe wave attack could have brought it on."
Ms Ryan has visited the site twice a week for the two months she has been working for Otway Discoveries.
As she led a group of 18 tourists along the boardwalk yesterday afternoon, another tour guide told her to prepare for an unusual sight.
"It's pretty unbelievable; it's history in the making today," Ms Ryan said. "It won't be the same sort of photo any more, but it is evolution."
Professor Joyce said the sea stack that collapsed was like a chimney sitting on a flat platform under the sea. The collapse would have been triggered by a vertical crack sending several tonnes of rubble swirling into the ocean.
A similar phenomenon occurred at nearby London Bridge, a popular tourist attraction in the Port Campbell area, about 10 years ago.
In that case, the arch of the bridge connecting the mainland collapsed, turning the formation into an island from which a couple had to be plucked by helicopter.
Despite their name, there have only ever been nine apostles. Now there are eight.
Parks Victoria ranger Alex Green said he did not think the loss of one would affect tourism to the area.
"We had a similar incident with London Bridge about 10 years ago and that story in itself has become quite a part of visiting the region," Mr Green said.
"It's a good opportunity for before and after photos and will generate a lot of discussion about the natural processes along this coastline and how it's always changing."
The Great Ocean Road generated $1 billion in tourism revenue last year, with hundreds of thousands of people driving the scenic road visiting the Twelve Apostles.
Kerry Deyell, the duty officer at the Port Campbell visitor information centre, said she was sad the stack had all but disappeared.
"It was my favourite one. It had a bit of character to it. It leant on its side while all the others stood straight up," she said. "It seems really funny looking out there with it gone. It's always been part of my view from here."
Ms Deyell said that by late yesterday afternoon the usual number of visitors for this time of year had passed through. "But strangely, not one of them has made a comment. I don't know if they've realised or not," she said.
"This was certainly the most recognisable of all the Apostles, in the forefront of the typical picture you see of them. They'll have to change all the postcards now."
But some did feel cheated. "We were told to go and see the Twelve Apostles, all nine of them, and now there's eight," one said.
Professor Joyce said other Apostles were also likely to disappear over time. But for every one that fell down there were more being formed as the coastline retreated.
Andrew Gleadow, professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, said the Apostles were formed after the tips of headlands were separated from the mainland, eroded by the sea. "A headland can be cut off and become a new little island ... sometimes the erosion begins as sea caves," he said.
Professor Gleadow said it was only a matter of time before the remaining eight Apostles crumbled into the sea. "They certainly haven't got millions of years left ... I would think it would happen every 1000 years or so.
Additional reporting by Additional reporting: Annabelle McDonald and AAP
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This is my pic before it went down.. as you can see, it's at a weird angle.
http://www.pbase.com/dickytong/image/39177196.jpg
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yeah why not?!