China accuses foreign agencies of using ‘spy turtle’ and ‘spy fish’ for waters surveillance

China’s ministry of state has stated that foreign intelligence agencies are deploying “spy” animals equipped with sensors to monitor the country’s territorial waters and seas surrounding it.

Dubbed “invisible secret war”, Beijing warned that marine animals including “spy turtles” and “spy fish” have been used as a spyware tool to collect sensitive data and to produce underwater threats. The deployment of “a variety of new spying devices.”

The animals were “collecting sensitive marine environment data such as water temperature, salinity and ocean currents in real time, and transmitting them overseas via satellite.”

China's ministry discovered buoys equipped with meteorological sensors capable of tracking the acoustic signatures of Chinese submarines in real time.

However, the ministry did not disclose any details regarding the whereabouts of animals like where they had been found and who had equipped them.

However, the ministry mentioned a new type of “wave gliders” powered by solar and wave motions to transmit military-related maritime environmental data and vessel activity information.

In 2024, China also found hidden ocean-floor light-houses designed to guide foreign submarines and “pre-set the field for battle.”

Highly sensitive waters, including South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait have been targeted with such stealthy espionage.

The Chinese government offers rewards ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 yuan to fishers who uncover and report spying devices in the country’s waters.

Previously, the UK government uncovered in 2023 that Russia deployed trained bottlenose dolphins in floating pens at the Sevastopol Black Sea fleet base in Crimea.