Did I just see Sea Lions in my little retention pond?

Factual Questions
1

It’s on a defunct golf course. I saw two of them, whiskers, similar body type…they were mostly submerged, but flipped forward like Sea Lions would do (or Seals, can’t say I am an expert in the subject).
It is a retention pond for the city water, which fills only during the wet season, generally. It is about 2’ deep now. They are inside a little tunnel between the 2 lakes, under a walkway. I wish I could show a picture, but they were gone before I could. Body was probably 1.5’ to 2’ long…babies, no doubt. Fresh water, obviously. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Brynn

2

Could they have been river otters?

3

Where is this? I’d say mink or otter

4

Yes, I suppose it could be a River Otter…never seen one tho.

Sorry, I forgot to mention I am in South Florida, western Broward county, northwest of Ft. Lauderdale (city of Coral Springs).

They didn’t seem to have any fur, it seemed more streamlined than that, but then again, I didn’t get a GREAT look as they were in the dark tunnel mostly…only coming out a foot…I had my dogs with me, which definitely scared them back into the tunnel.

I shall continue to find them, bringing my camera with me, with the hope of nabbing a good picture.
Thank you for your suggestions, when I get a better look, I will definitely find out if they are in fact the River Otter.

5

Maybe nutria or muskrat?

6

Florida seems a bit far south for seals. Could be a river otter or maybe an introduced specie. A seal probably would be a lot bigger than an otter.

7

Certainly not sea lions or seals in Florida, or in a freshwater pool.

River otter, nutria, or muskrat are all possibilities, but a photo or better description would be needed.

8

I’ve seen otters run and it could be mistaken for that loping, seal-like gait.

9

They were wet. Seals and sea lions have fur too. I’m betting nutria or otter, maybe muskrat.

10

I’m in orlando and I believe I spotted one as well. It had little flippers and the color was a darker brown closer to black. It saw me and got in the pond and started swimming and did a spin and went underneath. Pond on the corner of S Apopka Vineland rd and Vinings way. He was on the right side of the bridge.