Which is Saltier Dead Sea or Great Salt Lake?

With a salinity level over 40 percent, Don Juan is significantly saltier than most of the other hypersaline lakes around the world. The Dead Sea has a salinity of 34 percent; the Great Salt Lake varies between 5 and 27 percent. Earth's oceans have an average salinity of 3.5 percent.



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Why is it salty? The Dead Sea's salinity is 34.2% (compare with the Mediterranean's 3.5%). It is the fourth saltiest body of water in the world, ranking behind Antarctica's Don Juan Pond and Lake Vanda, and Djibouti's Lake Assal. One of the reasons for the high salinity is that the Dead Sea doesn't pour out.

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The most saline water body is Gaet'ale Pond, located in Danakil Depression, Ethiopia, with a percentage of salt by weight of 43.3%, compared to 40.2% of Don Juan Pond lake in Antarctica, 23.1% in the Dead Sea and an average of 3.38% in the world's oceans as a whole.

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The Dead Sea does take the honors of being the deepest hypersaline body of water (deepest point is 1000ft), but even it still falls short of being the saltiest. Antarctica has the honors of having the saltiest body of water.

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The best place to swim or float in the lake is at Antelope Island State Park, where white oolitic sand beaches provide easy access to the lake without the brine flies that are prevalent on other areas of the shoreline. The beach area also has showers to rinse off the salty water.

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No matter what time of year you choose to visit the Dead Sea, it's important to remember that swimming in its waters can be dangerous due to its high salt content and strong currents. Visitors must take safety precautions, such as wearing a life jacket or using a floatation device when swimming in these waters.

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The sea is called dead because its high salinity means no macroscopic aquatic organisms such as fish or water plants can live in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present.

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Why is the Dead Sea so salty? Much of the salt content of the Dead Sea comes from the rocks eroding on the shores. The shores are made up of rock salt and other rocks with a high mineral content. As the rocks and the salt erodes from the shores the stuff that makes up the rocks ends up in the water.

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The oceans have a salinity (salt content) of 35ppt. The Dead Sea has an average salinity of 290ppt, almost nine times saltier than the oceans.

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Fact: You can – and you should. Pads might not be the best option, since they'll absorb water till they're soaked, and could get weighed down or fall out. Plus, they might be visible through your bathing suit. On the other hand, tampons are convenient and safe to use in water.

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While full of therapeutic minerals, the water is toxic to ingest. That didn't stop 28 swimmers from swimming nine miles (14.5 kilometres) across it, from Jordan to Israel, in the first-ever Dead Sea Swim.

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The Great Salt Lake is home to many important biological and wildlife species, from archaea, to bacteria, to phytoplankton (400+ species). Perhaps the three most apparent species that can be seen with the naked eye are brine shrimp (tons), brine flies (billions) and birds (millions).

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Lake Michigan in particular is the roughest of the Great Lakes, and poses a major risk to those thinking of taking a dip.

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Clearest Waters in Europe
  • Nissi Beach, Cyprus. ...
  • Primosten, Croatia. ...
  • Porto Katsiki, Lefkada, Greece. ...
  • Isola Bella, Sicily. ...
  • Lake Bled, Slovenia. ...
  • Famara Beach, Lanzarote. ...
  • Sveti Stefan, Montenegro. ...
  • Calo des Moro, Majorca.


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