water

When I was a kid living on the west coast I asked my dad how the tides happened. He said, when people in Asia go to the beach and get in the water, it's high tide here. When they get out, it's low tide.

Nick

I used to believe that when it rained in my town, it rained everywhere.

Anon

I used to believe that there was a giant toad under the sea, and when it breathed in, the tide would go out, and when it breathed out the tide would come in. This toad was known as the "undertoad", and if you went swimming when it was breathing in, it might swallow you.

Maia

I used to think that all rivers ran from north to south, i.e. from the top of the
map to the bottom. It seemed natural. I also got very excited when I first saw
a complete map of North America. When I saw "Newfoundland" I though it
was soooo neat that they were still discovering unknown places--and so
close to the U.S., too!

Monique

I believed that "they" switched the ocean waves off at night. When I was about 4, we were on holiday at the sea and one evening, after dark, we were driving along the beach road, when to my surprise I saw the waves were still coming in. I asked my mother at what time they were switched off.

Anna

When I was little my brother gave me a scientific explanation for why ocean water was salty. He told me that kids on the beach would throw sand in the water, which would disolve and become salt. I believed this for a long time.

Salt Water Genius

As a small child I was terribly worried that a polar explorer would drop a match, melt the ice-cap and drown everybody

Natalie

I used to believe the whitewash on waves was actually whale pee.

Tessica

i used to beleive that the foam in river estuarys and in the sea were dead mermaids, this is what i was told when i was younger by my parents

Laura

I always believed the tide came in at night, and went out again in the morning so that there'd be room for people to lie on the beach during the day.

Katie Watie

Early years of my childhood, I believed that the clouds had a large trunk that sucked water from the sea and showered rains!

Shampiee

I thought that the sound you hear when you put a seashell to your ear was a "recording" of the sea waves and that after the shell was out of the ocean for the same amount of time that it was originally in the ocean the "recording" would end and the sound would stop.

Anon

Our nanny at the kindergarden told me the group's pet, a goldfish will become a shark as we feed it too many times.

Eva

I used to think that at night at the beach the government would turn off the waves.

Caitlin

When I was about 5 or 6 I asked my mom why was the sky blue, she told me it was because the sea would reflect on it, I belived it until I was like 11!

L.J.

i remember telling my mother one day when we were swimming in a lake that i thought it was so cool how water goes through you. lol she explained to me that it actually goes AROUND you. i was sorta bummed, i thought it was washing me inside and out. lol

ferri

I grew up right by the ocean, but refused to learn to swim because the water was green. My logic was as follows:

Water is blue.
Wee is yellow.
Blue + yellow = green.

I was convinced the ocean was green from all the people weeing in it!

Meg

That an undertow was a giant toe under the water that grabbed people and pulled them under.

mikita Jones

Whenever I was in a boat and we would hit waves and the boat would bounce, I thought that we were hitting the backs of fish.

Anon

I grew up in South Florida, and naturally, spending time on the beach was a frequent past time. The vastness of the ocean always fascinated me and trying to wrap my young mind around it led to some crazy thoughts.

The one I'll never forget is when I was probably 8 or 9, and I said something to the effect of "It must really stink for those people on the other side of the ocean where the waves go out instead of coming in." Once my family members stopped laughing, I learned the truth about waves.

Anon