An update to the title: unfortunately I believe this gnarled old mangrove is no longer standing. It's sad, but not that sad. The coastlines of these Florida barrier islands are constantly changing, naturally. When big storms and hurricanes roll through, the sand is easily moved around. As a result, the islands drift around. And of course, individual trees can't move with it. In fact, a lot of engineering work is dedicated to making these islands more stable than ever before in their natural past. This includes sea walls, excess dune vegetation, re-adding sand, and more. But in Bear Cut Nature Preserve on Key Biscayne (the location of this photograph), nature still has somewhat free reign. During some storm I missed, the coastline morphed just enough to doom this tree to driftwood.

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