Crossbill Sirenomorph

As with so many of my creatures, the most direct inspiration behind this one had very little to do with the final product. I was looking at yet another of those DK "Eyewitness" books and was struck by a photo of two curved tusk shells, one dark and one light, arranged one atop the other. My impression was of crossed, countershaded horns or tusks forming a bill or beak of some marine animal, though I wasn't sure what kind. But I picked up a book about manatees and dugongs yesterday, and I've been thinking a lot about those guys, especially their relationship to elephants. Dugongs will even pull their lips back to show their "tusks" in an aggression display. I've also been fascinated by the more whale-like body design of dugongs, especially those split tail flukes. I find it thrilling to ponder that these are, essentially, "seagoing elephants." So this idea started emerging of an alternate sirenian lineage converging on the cetaceans, with a bit of elephant in there in the form of those asymmetric "crossbill" tusks. And this is what I ended up with.

I guess I thought of this guy as more whale- than dolphin-like, though I can't exactly explain why. My mental image was of something like a sei or minke whale--closer to a minke whale in size, maybe even a beluga. What do you think s/he uses those tusks for? Are they solely for intraspecific display and dispute, or do they play a role in feeding and defense...?

I was experimenting with a few different things in this drawing, so it ended up kind of messy. There are a lot of potential elements here to pick out and criticize. The belly especially is terrible, with that horrible half-hearted hatching and dreaded "empty space." And if ~spinery were here, he would rightly chide me for that cartoon-like dark "outline" around the form. Ah well, the failings give me some motivation to do better next time.