EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: Chinese Shell Game — Beijing Claims Spies Are Looking to Control the Ocean… With Turtles
Beijing claims spies are using turtles in an alleged effort to control the ocean and gather intelligence.
July 11 2026, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
Call it the ultimate shell game – China's ministry of state security claims foreign espionage and intelligence agencies are monitoring the Communist country's waters by deploying animal spies, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Beijing bigshots warn that an "unseen covert war of espionage" is brewing in the seas as rival nations harness wildlife fitted with special sensors to harvest sensitive data "through a variety of new spying devices" and produce underwater maps that could potentially pose a "serious threat" to its national security.
China Claims Spy Animals Swarm
China's Ministry of State Security claimed 'spy turtles' and 'spy fish' were found carrying devices that gathered marine data.
According to a ministry post on the Chinese platform WeChat, "spy turtles" and "spy fish" have been found sporting high-tech devices.
The agency claimed critters were "collecting sensitive marine environmental data such as water temperature, salinity and ocean currents in real time, and transmitting them overseas via satellite," but didn't provide details about where the water-borne spies were supposedly discovered.
The ministry also alleges that it had found buoys "deployed by an overseas marine research institute" that were "equipped with a meteorological sensor package" to track the acoustic signatures of Chinese submarines.
It cautioned that "technical espionage devices to detect the distribution data of China's offshore oil and gas deposits" could impact the country's resource development rights and economic security.
China Urges Extreme Caution Offshore
Beijing instructed marine researchers to inspect overseas-provided equipment for potential data-sharing backdoors.
The ministry has instructed researchers to be "vigilant" and "conduct necessary security checks on equipment provided by overseas entities when carrying out international cooperation in the marine field."
It also recommends that eggheads "investigate for data-sharing backdoors" and "prevent the deployment of equipment that poses a risk of data theft or leakage in waters surrounding China."
Additionally, the agency warns that ship owners should be wary of "unfamiliar vendors promoting suspicious marine service devices" and not purchase or install equipment from unknown sources.
China did not blame any particular nation for the fishy behavior.
Spy Dolphins Aren't New
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The U.S. Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions since 1959 to help detect mines and guard against underwater threats.
But this isn't the first time aquatic life has been accused of diving into espionage waters on behalf of human handlers.
In 2023, British intelligence claimed Russia increased security at its Sevastopol Black Sea fleet base – a port on Ukraine's occupied peninsula of Crimea – by deploying trained bottlenose dolphins.
And since 1959, the U.S. Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions to help guard against aquatic threats, recover objects, and detect mines and other potentially dangerous objects.
Chinese media outlets have published reports claiming that fishermen can net as much as $73,000 for recovering suspected surveillance devices.
