Avast Steve,
Instead of a mature
physeter,show Messie giving the Cuisinart treatment to a calf. If Peter Benchley calls to threaten legal action, point out to him that his scenario in "Beast" involved a bastardized
Architeuthis. Besides, he got his inspiration from an old pulp story, "Jackal of the Deep." I wonder if some of the jaw deformities found in Sperm whales aren't complications from injuries inflicted by squid, say, a bone-scraping snap from a beak, or an abcess formed around an embedded claw.
Or, toss the Sperm whale out the window and use a smaller squid-eating odontocete: "Messie vs. Pygmy." The poor whale gets a
Taningia sized echo-locating return, only to find it's painted a Messie turned end-on to the whale's head. Surprise!
Much as I like the idea of using a Messie model to predict sonar returns of the genuine article, I'd guess that the model would have to have the same consistency to give an accurate result. A stiff plastic Messie would probably reflect a larger sonar return than the more absorbtive squid-flesh.
The notion of towing the model past whales is brilliant. Could you rig the model with sensors that register echo-locating hits? Could you reel the model in fast enough after ringing the dinner bell?
Clem