End Portals do not teleport to islands

We defeated the nether dragon in the end in survival mode - it then spawned the portals to go to the islands. We threw end pearls into them, through them, into the bed rock around them / etc - and the only thing it did was place us in the swim position inside the portal. It wont teleport us, even though it gives us the achievement. We went ahead and spawned another dragon and killed it and it made a second portal - and it spawned another island teleporter. Same exact result in these portals. Is there a way to correct this?