Wonderful image! There's not a lot to say because I don't think you could make the photo significantly better by changing anything - I feel like any significant suggestions I make will only spoil the mood and ruin what already works well, so forgive me for diving into the details but my only real critique is to careful about the masking on the gull - the outline is too sharp in spots and too soft in others - since the background of the gull image was brighter, you may need to refine the mask and shift the edge down to get rid of the bright edge on the bottom of the feathers. I would also suggest throwing a subtle brush of reflective color on the highlights of the gull to match the pinkish light in the scene - the gull looks a tad too monochrome (and there's a faint outline of a box around the gull if you look close, a remnant of the masking).
Those clouds are awesome, and one thing that works very well in the image is the way the water matches the texture of the sky - it helps ease the transition across the horizon - but the band of darker cloud far in the distance still outlines the horizon so we aren't confused about where the sea stops and the sky begins. Great work!
i am flattered that you took the time! thank you a lot - I, of cause, agree to your points about the gull, especially the point about the brush. You are a good reviewer with a great eye for details (and I uploaded the full res... =D)
derek - thank you - really wonderful!
Hey, no problem - people don't usually ask for real critique. :)