Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon is the only gray whale birthing ground left on Earth that has not been despoiled by human encroachment.

Each winter, hundreds of pregnant gray whales swim 4,000 miles from the Arctic to reach this perfect lagoon nursery with its warm, tranquil waters for giving birth ... complete sanctuary from killer orcas ... and placid surf where one-ton newborns can hone their swimming skills for the arduous journey back to Alaska.

In 2000, our BioGems Campaign mobilized one million people from around the world and stopped Mexico and the Mitsubishi Corporation from building the world's largest salt factory on the banks of this irreplaceable natural treasure.

But the whales' nursery never received permanent protection. And, today, there are ominous signs that San Ignacio Lagoon may soon be threatened by plans for industrialization ... oil and gas drilling ... massive high-rise hotels ... and resort marinas with ocean-bound ships.

That's why NRDC and our Mexican partners are now racing to safeguard the whales' lagoon -- by buying up the development rights to the surrounding one million acres and putting them off-limits to industry forever.

Securing a stretch of coastline this big could easily cost tens of billions of dollars in the United States. But we estimate the cost of protecting Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon to be only $14 per acre!

So far, nearly $1.7 million in contributions from NRDC Members and BioGems Defenders has allowed our conservation alliance to purchase the development rights for 140,000 acres of communal and private lands near an area of vital importance to the whales.

And, in another major milestone, Mexico announced in March 2007 that 109,000 acres of federal lands surrounding the lagoon would be donated for conservation. These were precisely the lands where Mitsubishi had planned to build key parts of its saltworks, and so this crucial donation will thwart any possible revival of that destructive proposal.

But the whale nursery remains vulnerable and we have 750,000 acres left to protect. Please help build on our recent advances by protecting just as many acres of this whale sanctuary as you possibly can.