Flooding allowed one New Yorker a small taste of freedom — a sea lion at the Central Park Zoo

While New Yorkers were urged to stay indoors during Friday's downpours and flash flooding, one resident found a little opportunity in the rising waters — a resident of the Central Park Zoo, that is. 

Buoyed by the flooding, a female sea lion was able to swim out of the zoo's sea lion pool and do some exploring.

"Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions. The water levels have receded, and the animals are contained in their exhibit," Jim Breheny, director of the Bronx Zoo and executive vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Zoos and Aquarium, said in a statement Friday afternoon.