what type of bird is scuttle

In the live-action adaptation of "The Little Mermaid," Scuttle is portrayed as a Northern Gannet, a type of diving bird, instead of a seagull as in the original animated film. This change was made to allow Scuttle to have more underwater scenes with Ariel, as the character had not been to the surface in the novelization. The director, Rob Marshall, wanted to maintain the idea that Ariel had never been to the surface, so Scuttles new species was designed to meet this narrative goal.