Since I've known a number of artists who create forms, then mold objects from them in various materials (epoxies, bronze, plastics, etc), this appears to me to possibly be something like that. Quote from Wikipedia about the source: "In a 2004 survey conducted by Pace University, the Post was rated the least-credible major news outlet in New York."
I wait for the judgment of the biologists who inspect this bycatch oddity. Has anyone seen the Russian coverage on this? This is the calibre of the U.S. source that posted the story...