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Introduction: Salt of the Earth

The salty, warm lagoons of Baja California Mexico are more than great nurseries for gray whale babies. They offer ideal conditions for producing solar-evaporated salt. The lagoons are apart from the sea. They get very little rainfall and almost no fresh water runoff. The winds are brisk.

Laguna Ojo de Liebre is home to the world's largest solar saltworks. With headquarters in the town of Guerrero Negro, the company that produces the salt is jointly owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and the government of Mexico.
gwhale_Mexico063About half the salt exported from the Guerrero Negro saltworks is used in Japan's industries. The salt helps to produce PVC plastics, bleach, chlorine gas, road salt, and glass. Do you think any ends up in your salt shakers or on your icy streets in winter?