Just to clear some things up:
It's supposed to represent a minifig, sitting, with it's legs hanging out, much like the one on the wall in this picture.
A pirate has just walked the plank, landing inside the barrel (hence the splash).
Those are supposed to be the waves or wake coming from the hat and the minifig.
While that's certainly not a bad idea, if I did so the trans-clear support would unfortunately no longer be able to connect to the torso.
Thanks for all the feedback!