Absolutely there is room for a lot of interpretation. Literal creationists will burn themselves in effigy before admitting carbon dating is valid, and the earth is over 40,000 years old. Granted they have arguments for every case but you just can’t be inflexible and claim Noah’s Ark accounts for all life on earth.
The people back then had no concept what comprised earth. No antique globes have surfaced I’m aware of. The earth they knew was flooded but most certainly there were a few spots left high and dry.
Indeed, I'd bet you a day's pay that not one person in a thousand, including Christians, can tell you: what, precisely, is the theological point of Noah's Ark story?
Do you even know? ;-)
The entire point, the reason for this elaborate story about a great flood and Noah's Ark, is God's promise that it will never happen again! (Genesis 9:11-17)
So all this falderal & hoopla over the size, sea-worthiness & capacity of Noah's great Ark, misses the main idea.
The point is not "how big was the Ark and how many animals could it hold?"
The point is: a world flood will never happen again.
And doesn't science, in all it's amazing investigative prowess, more-or-less "prove" to us that God's promise is 100% reliable?
So, what exactly is the problem here between science and God?