Anchialine ponds across the Turks & Caicos Islands shelter massive single-celled algae that thrive in the islands' porous limestone environments. Natural history researcher Dr. Eric Cole documented how rising sea levels from melting Late Pleistocene glaciers created these inland black lagoons, forming natural sanctuaries where single cells grow into remarkably large structures.
Several species flourish in these inland waters, protected from ocean surges and storms. Fronds of Batophora oerstedii, known as Fuzzy Finger algae, each consist of a single cell that reproduces sexually by releasing swimming gametes from beaded fronds. The related Mermaid's Wineglass, or Acetabularia, also contains a single nucleus and grows three to four inches tall. Meanwhile, macro-algae in the genus Caulerpa form multi-nucleated hedges over a meter high, representing the largest single cells on Earth alongside Valonia ventricosa, commonly known as bubble algae or sailor's eyeballs.