what type of bird is scuttle in the new little mermaid

In the 2023 live‑action The Little Mermaid , Scuttle is a Northern gannet , not the seagull she was in the original 1989 animated film.

What kind of bird is Scuttle?

• Species: Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), a large seabird known for diving head‑first into the water to catch fish.

• Appearance: She’s mostly white with black‑tipped wings and a long, pointed beak, so she still looks a bit like a seagull but bigger and more streamlined.

• Gender update: In this version, Scuttle is female and voiced by Awkwafina, while the original animated Scuttle was male.

Why did they change her species?

• Story logic: Director Rob Marshall wanted Scuttle to be a diving bird so Ariel could meet her underwater , before ever going to the surface. This makes more sense in the live‑action rewrite, since young Ariel hasn’t breached the surface yet.

• Visual impact: Making Scuttle a gannet gives her a more dramatic, oceanic look that fits the larger‑than‑life style of the live‑action “surface world” sequences.

So if you’re asking specifically about the new live‑action Little Mermaid , the short answer is: Scuttle is a Northern gannet.