Ocean's Breath Plateau tarnished but so grand

The man’s ears swivelled. He wondered what made a heart long to lead. Kannoyak was almost certain he had never felt such a desire. It must have been her spirit’s true path. Such things could not be ignored, he had found. 

But when she mentioned the sea and the cursed things it had brought to them, the hunter allowed his perplexed expression to show. 

Explain this. The great water is not a bringer of these things. What made her think it so?