Environmental activists have vowed to form human shields between marksmen and seals amid fears of a mass cull at a north-east village.
Conservation action group Sea Shepherd has set up camp in picturesque Gardenstown to try to disrupt a planned shoot for Montrose-based Usan Salmon Fisheries.
Licensed gunmen have been employed to patrol the coastline and fire at any seals which could threaten the company’s fishing nets.
Sea Shepherd has pledged to intervene to stop any of the mammals being shot – even if that means standing in front of the marksmen’s rifles.
And after a stand-off yesterday, the activist group has called in reinforcements, including members of the controversial Hunt Saboteur Association.
Last night, police said they were monitoring the situation closely.
Just weeks ago, Usan was involved in a similar row when it applied for a licence to shoot seals at the Ythan Estuary, near Newburgh. The cull was averted when the company opted to use non-lethal, acoustic deterrents instead.
At Gardenstown, tensions between the two sides had escalated over the weekend and reached boiling point yesterday morning.
Sea Shepherd activists called police, alleging they had been threatened by the armed patrollers.
And Usan also called the police, complaining that its team was being harassed.
Officers were sent to the village to speak to campaigners, marksmen and company director George Pullar, who travelled from Montrose in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
Yesterday, Sea Shepherd captain Jessie Treverton said: “We have been following them around and filming them wherever they go. We always keep a safe distance and we won’t bother them unless they take their rifles out.
“We had a confrontation this morning and one of them said to us, something along the lines of, he was going to get a group of heavies round to sort us out.
“Because of that, we have mobilised some of our supporters to come up here and intervene. We’ve got members of the Hunt Saboteurs Association and teams from Europe coming along to back us up.
“It’s basically all kicking off now.”
No seals had been killed since the Sea Shepherd arrived, she said.
This year, the Scottish Government granted consent for the killing of up to 239 grey seals and 24 common ones in the Moray Firth.
Sea Shepherd trustee Anna Oliver said: “We want to make sure that Usan sticks to the terms of its licence, but we also believe it should not have been given this licence in the first place. There are alternatives available. If acoustic measures can be used at Newburgh, then why not here as well?”
No one from Usan could be reached for comment last night.
In 2012, a row erupted when residents in Gardenstown alleged the company had left seal carcasses on the shoreline after a cull.
The firm denied abandoning the animals’ bodies and stressed it had always stuck closely to the terms of its seal management licence, which is monitored by Marine Scotland.
A police spokesman said last night they were monitoring the situation.