Mermaids…packed in water or oil?

This question somehow surfaced at brunch the other day, which reminded me that one can engage in a serious discussion about the silliest damned things. To wit: how do mermaids and mermen procreate? Is intercourse involved, or does the female just lay a bunch of eggs and the male comes along and haphazardly bombs-away like jellyfish? Or, like our seagoing mammal friends the dolphins, whales and manatees, do they actually mate? Is the human half of mer-people mammal? Also, where are the genitalia?

The general consensus was that, yes, mer-people are mammals and their sexual organs are kept safely internal in a pouch-like configuration located anatomically in the same physical area as humans. Reproduction is accomplished in the usual way. Our discussion totally fell apart when the subject of recreational anal sex was broached. Although an intriguing topic, we voted to table this issue when the eggs benedict arrived.