<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/new-georgia-island-11618.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/new-georgia-island-11618.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/new-georgia-island-11618.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > A new island is seen off the Georgia coast in this image taken by a drone on Sept. 28, 2017, two weeks after the new island was created by Hurricane Irma. (University of Georgia Center for Geospatial Studies)

At a Glance A new barrier island was created by Hurricane Irma off the Georgia coast last September.

The 100-acre island was formed by storm surge and a shift in a creek's channel.

It's likely that the small island will eventually become attached to a larger one nearby.

Scientists made a wild discovery off the Georgia coast in September: Hurricane Irma was so powerful that it carved a new island.

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, news about the new coastal island was shared by Tommy Jordan and Marguerite Madden of the University of Georgia's Center for Geospatial Research two weeks after Irma battered the coastline. Imagery taken from a drone on Sept. 28 confirmed the existence of the new island, which is formerly a piece of land from Blackbeard Island, the report added.

Located just north of Saint Simons Island, Blackbeard Island is separated from Sapelo Island by the Blackbeard Creek. At some point during Irma's assault on the barrier islands, the creek's channel was shifted by storm surge and water carved out the new island, the Banner-Herald reported.

(MORE: 10 New Islands Formed in the Past 20 Years )

The scientists appropriately named the 100-acre island "Little Blackbeard." Blackbeard Island is about 5,600 acres, and Sapelo Island is larger than 16,000 acres, the Banner-Herald also said.

Georgia's coast was clobbered by Irma on Sept. 12, 2017, and the storm killed at least 15 people in the United States. It's not uncommon for new barrier islands to be carved out of existing ones; last April, along North Carolina's Outer Banks, a small, new island appeared seemingly overnight .

Sometimes, these new islands stick around, but that isn't always the case. Madden said during a recent conference that Little Blackbeard could eventually become part of Sapelo Island as movement continues with the new barrier island.