I had a similar situation and was told that maybe it was installed backwards because of the picture and not paying attention to the arrow. When I took the old filter off I noticed it was hand marked with an arrow on the back side that was opposite to the molded arrow on the body. I took it apart at the seam on the bulge and the 2nd picture shows the inside is a mesh sock to trap any debris in the filter. It is similar in construction to the seadoo fuel filter. The 3rd picture shows the dark debris at the bottom of the sock. That debris appeared to be and felt like congealed oil more than metal shavings. I installed the new WSM filter with the arrow towards the engine which is the way you are supposed to install them but I don't remember which side the bulge was on and my ski is not local to me to check. Personally I think the design intent was to flow the oil into the center of the sock like the fuel filter. But after looking at the internal construction and feeling that the mesh sock is fairly stiff, I think the oil filter will do the job in either orientation and you should not be worried about it. My old filter was on for a couple of summers after I got the ski in 2017 and probably longer than that before I bought it and I haven't had issues due to the oil filter.