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This is my entry for 's contest "Creatures with Striking Features" contest! Yay!

I bet you've never heard of a coccolithophore! They are a phytoplankton (one celled marine plant that lives in large numbers and uses photosythesis to create energy). But that's not what makes them unique, necessarily. What makes them so striking (at least under an electron microscope) is that they make coccoliths (small plates made from limestone/calcite) and cover their body (cell) with them! As they grow they shed and produce many coccoliths, thus locking away carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and storing it as calcite in the ocean. Also, due to this excessive "shedding," they produce a lot of fossils! In fact, that's how they were first discovered! There are many different types of coccolithophores, too!

Did I mention they were tiny? A coccolithophore can be between 5-100 micrometers wide. Mine is 4 inches wide, making it 1000 times larger than the largest coccolithophore you can find.

To make my coccolithophore I first crocheted a sphere. I then made lots of coccoliths (freestyle, no pattern) and sewed them on! I choose blue because when there is a coccolithophore bloom they turn the ocean a bright/opaque turquoise color, although they themselves really don't have any hue at all. But a black and white coccolithophore wouldn't be much fun now would it?

Here's some more info:
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Feat…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccolit…

and an awesome SEM (scanning electron microscope) image:
www.vims.edu/bayinfo/_photoset…

Enjoy!

Description
This is my entry for 's contest "Creatures with Striking Features" contest! Yay!

I bet you've never heard of a coccolithophore! They are a phytoplankton (one celled marine plant that lives in large numbers and uses photosythesis to create energy). But that's not what makes them unique, necessarily. What makes them so striking (at least under an electron microscope) is that they make coccoliths (small plates made from limestone/calcite) and cover their body (cell) with them! As they grow they shed and produce many coccoliths, thus locking away carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and storing it as calcite in the ocean. Also, due to this excessive "shedding," they produce a lot of fossils! In fact, that's how they were first discovered! There are many different types of coccolithophores, too!

Did I mention they were tiny? A coccolithophore can be between 5-100 micrometers wide. Mine is 4 inches wide, making it 1000 times larger than the largest coccolithophore you can find.

To make my coccolithophore I first crocheted a sphere. I then made lots of coccoliths (freestyle, no pattern) and sewed them on! I choose blue because when there is a coccolithophore bloom they turn the ocean a bright/opaque turquoise color, although they themselves really don't have any hue at all. But a black and white coccolithophore wouldn't be much fun now would it?

Here's some more info:
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Feat…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccolit…

and an awesome SEM (scanning electron microscope) image:
www.vims.edu/bayinfo/_photoset…

Enjoy!