>>1988023>The two closest to the shipping channel do both.The most reliable way to stop a moving mass is with mass acting against it, which is why the dolphins for the Sunshine Skyway are so large and completely filled in with solid material. The interiors of those pylon structures are hollow and open to the harbor. That leads me to believe that their main function is to act as breakwaters to mitigate the wakes of passing ships on the pylon base itself, and as an added benefit they provide some impact protection from smaller vessels.
