China Says It Found US Submarine-Hunting Device

China said it has recovered a submarine-finding sonar device the U.S. allegedly dropped in a disputed part of the South China Sea.

An undated video uploaded Wednesday by Yuyuan Tantian—a social media account affiliated with state-run China Central Television—shows what appears to be a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane dropping multiple cylindrical objects.

According to the report, one of them fell into waters near the Spratly Islands reef Second Thomas Shoal, known in Beijing as Ren’ai Reef, currently the most hotly contested feature in the Philippines territorial feud with China and the site of a violent clash between their forces last week.

“After the incident, the China Coast Guard immediately went to the area to salvage and inspect the unknown electronic items in accordance with laws and regulations,” Yuyuan Tantian said.

The 40-second video then cuts to battery labels on an electronic device that lists Ultra Electronics as the manufacturer. Ultra Electronics is a U.K.-based defense contractor that develops a range of naval products, from radar and electronic warfare products, ranging from sonobuoys to electromagnetic interference filters.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command with written requests for comment.

Yuyuan Tantian cited Chinese marine expert Yang Xiao as saying U.S. forces can use devices like the ones recovered to detect Chinese submarines as well as emit signals to interfere with Chinese operations.

The video pointed out that sonar can interfere with the echolocation abilities of dolphins and whales.

“The location where the US military plane dropped the detector is the waters near Ren’ai Reef in the South China Sea,” the video said. “Not only is the environment beautiful, but there are also pods of dolphins playing.

“The noise generated by its sonar can interfere with the echolocation system of dolphins and other marine creatures, causing…