The king of New Zealand’s Maoris has called for whales to receive protections which would see them awarded “legal personhood” under national law. Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, the Maori king, was one of a number of indigenous leaders across nations in the South Pacific who signed the groundbreaking declaration last week which would see the mammals’ rights, including “cultural expression”, protected. The document proposes that whales’ “freedom of movement, cultural expression – which includes language – to a healthy environment, healthy oceans, and indeed the restoration of their populati…