US - BARRIER Island

The Chandeleur Islands are a thin chain of uninhabited barrier islands located east of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico that have been shrinking rapidly for the last 200 years. The islands serve as a barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and parts of St. Bernard and Orleans parishes, representing a renowned sportfishing destination while losing nearly 90% of their landmass due to shoreline erosion from increasingly intense storms and hurricanes. The Chandeleur Islands are incredibly significant to both the state of Louisiana and the entire country as part of the second established national wildlife refuge in the U.S., Breton National Wildlife Refuge, which supports an incredibly diverse group of wildlife and fisheries species.