I was reminded today of a charming piece of trivia that everyone seems to know, but nobody is capable of substantiating. Namely that Dolphins and Humans are the only animals that have sex for pleasure. How on earth could anyone have developed this hypothesis? What would they use as contraception? Eel condoms? Quite probably not, as despite being roughly the right shape and size, sticking your manhood in an eel is probably not the height of pleasurable experiences - regardless of whether or not dolphin folklore contains the concept of vagina dentata.

So unless there is some form of sea urchin that just happens to induce infertility in certain species of oceanic mammals, they must be relying on more natural methods. It is possible that some intrepid zoologist just happened to notice that dolphin couples only mated at roughly monthy intervals, and thus concluded they had a natural understanding of the rhythm method. Or alternatively, they may be mentally disciplined enough to make use of the withdrawl technique. Were this the case, it would certainly add weight to the Catholic opposition to artificial contraception. If natural is good enough for the dolphins, its good enough for all mammals.

Of course, if Dolphins are capable of practising Catholicism, it offers an explanation as to why Sarah Palin believes Polar Bears aren't worth saving. Its not so much that they make use of contraceptive products, but according to Polar Bears International, infanticide is not unknown. And that's like a really late abortion, so they're probably Pro-Choice.

Seals, on the other hand, are avid followers of Richard Dawkins.