The species is unusually inquisitive. Whales approach drifting boats, circle them and remain nearby for extended periods, behaviour reported consistently across two centuries. They also stand by wounded group members, refusing to disperse when one is struck.
Norwegian and Scottish whaling from the 1880s onward turned that into a method. A single harpooned animal would hold the rest of the group in place, and the boat could take several before moving on. Tens of thousands were killed in the North Atlantic before the fishery wound down in the 1970s. Recovery has been slow, and the species is still uncommon.
The same trait now makes the whale accessible to researchers, which is how a small resident population came to be described in the Gully off Nova Scotia. That population is protected in a marine protected area, and its principal remaining concerns are underwater noise and disturbance rather than hunting.