I like the power balance between these two characters. The manatee is so much larger than the seagull, but subordinate to him, obviously outranked. He’s stuck holding the oars while the admiral appears to be looking to him for a solution to their predicament.

They’re both stranded in the boat even though one can swim and the other fly. What brought them together, and why do they stay, denying what’s in their nature? I think they’re bound by duty to one another.