Gooseneck barnacles, British Columbia, Canada (© Brandon Cole Marine Photography/Alamy)

【October 13 2014】Medieval Europeans believed that gooseneck barnacles grew like fruit on driftwood, and in spring produced geese. The folklore may have sprung from a misunderstanding of bird migration, leading to the fantastic idea that a barnacle is a goose seed, just waiting to open in spring and produce a honking fowl. The legend of geese born of shellfish was so widely believed that some considered it acceptable to eat the birds during religious fasts, when meat and poultry were otherwise prohibited. Although the legend was disproved eventually, historians think it possible that this misconception allowed the barnacle goose to lend its name to the gooseneck barnacle. Explore breathtaking Gallery from the HuluTrip homepage over the past 5 years..