Function of ように in this sentence


For full context:
<http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10011273631000/k10011273631000.html>

The sentence in question:
水族館の人は、「ペンギンはくちばしを空に向けて大きな声で鳴いたあと、頭を下げます。それが神社でお参りしているように見えます」と話していました。

My attempt at translation: "An employee of the aquarium said 'After the
penguins had sung with a strong voice with their muzzle pointed towards the
sky, they lowered their heads. This seems like they are worshipping at the
shrine.'"

I couldn't come up with an interpretation making more sense than this one.
However, especially since が instead of は is used in それが神社でお参りしているように見えます, I'm
not sure if my translation is legit. I'm not very good in distinguishing where
は instead of が should be used or vice versa, but since が is oftentimes used
when something is newly introduced into the universe of discourse, I was
surprised to see it in use here because what this それが points back to isn't new
in this conversation.




As for translating ように見える, it's better to use "looks like" because the speaker
is not wondering if it's a fact or not.

As for the rest, from a different angle, what if the sentence was
ペンギンは、…鳴いたあと頭を下げるのが 神社でお参りしているように見える?

It's a bit too long, isn't it? Why don't you split it? I mean,
ペンギンは…鳴いたあと頭を下げる。 **それ** が…お参りしてるように見える. See? That's the example sentence as
it is.

As you see, what それ indicates is a new information, hence doesn't really need
to be further topicalized under the primary topic ペンギン.

(If you nevertheless do it, that's in general considered a bad composition
because it could sound as if the topic is shifted from ペンギン to something else,
which feels loose or distracted. That's why we are taught to avoid it for good
composition. In other words, it's so natural for native speakers that you need
education to stop it. p.s In this regard, a sentence that has two primary
topics can't avoid it.)




As for translating ように見える, it's better to use "looks like" because the speaker
is not wondering if it's a fact or not.

As for the rest, from a different angle, what if the sentence was
ペンギンは、…鳴いたあと頭を下げるのが 神社でお参りしているように見える?

It's a bit too long, isn't it? Why don't you split it? I mean,
ペンギンは…鳴いたあと頭を下げる。 **それ** が…お参りしてるように見える. See? That's the example sentence as
it is.

As you see, what それ indicates is a new information, hence doesn't really need
to be further topicalized under the primary topic ペンギン.

(If you nevertheless do it, that's in general considered a bad composition
because it could sound as if the topic is shifted from ペンギン to something else,
which feels loose or distracted. That's why we are taught to avoid it for good
composition. In other words, it's so natural for native speakers that you need
education to stop it. p.s In this regard, a sentence that has two primary
topics can't avoid it.)

