On my tour of the spoil islands, checking up on the abandoned boats, I also noted how the islands are changing. They are slowly washing away. This is largely the result of rising sea water, combined with increased hurricane action caused by climate change. That and the fact that the islands are covered with Australian Pines, an invasive species that begins to die when the rising seawater soaks its roots. They weaken and die, the hurricanes blow them over, and the rising seawater washes the island away.