Coccolithophores

Coccolithophores are single-celled algae covered in intricate calcium carbonate plates. When they die, these plates sink and accumulate on the ocean floor - the White Cliffs of Dover are made of compressed coccolithophore plates. They're so abundant their blooms are visible from space as milky patches in the ocean.

Coccolithophores link the carbon and calcium cycles at planetary scale. They remove CO₂ to build shells, then sequester it in seafloor sediments for millions of years. The business parallel is infrastructure that creates permanent assets from ongoing flows - systems that convert current activity into lasting value rather than consumed and forgotten outputs.