If you live in Sweden or are planning to visit anytime soon, be sure to try one (or both) or the two newest local delicacies, compliments of the Baltic Sea.

You may be looking at these accompanying photos and waiting for the punchline. Well maybe the idea of consuming the Baltic Sea cocktail or the Baltic farmer's soup isn't entirely serious, however the water's condition is no joke - these substances actually offer a glimpse of what the most severely-polluted parts of the sea look like. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is using these images in a new campaign to show what happens when the run-off from fertilizers and other pollution create large blooms of algae that quickly die and sink to the bottom of the sea. A lack of oxygen in the seabed are known as "dead zones" and one study indicates the Baltic Sea is home to seven out of 10 of the world's largest of these zones.

Besides Sweden, other countries that border the sea include Finland, Latvia, Russia and Germany, and for years all of these countries have pointed the finger to one another in trying to determine which is responsible for the sea's condition. However last year they finally agreed on a plant to clean up the sea by 2021, which included a benchmark for the maximum amount of toxic junk - also known as nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers - that will be allowable.

In the meantime, if you're in the area and someone tries to serve you something resembling either of these, you may want to consider politely declining and requesting a glass of wine instead. 

» Reuters