Are there any reports of bird in the left engine, which the divers recovered?
If APU was still working why would the RAT deploy?
Would APU be off already at this stage of flight?
And why not gear down for the ditching? Increased drag, yes, if long glide is the goal, but otherwise gear would surely absorb much energy on impact before being sheared and make the halt less violent than the engines "scooping" the water.