The fight to save the world’s oceans starts early for some like six-year-old Charlie Hamilton-Cooper, dubbed a “litter hero” for his spare time spent cleaning rubbish off beaches across Northern Ireland.

The young boy from Crossgar has taken part in cleaning up 40 beaches across Northern Ireland with the help of his parents Jonathan and Catherine Hamilton-Cooper.

Charlie Hamilton-Cooper’s quest to save the oceans started when he overheard his parents talking about the state of the oceans. From then on, the Crossgar schoolboy decided to take matters into his own hands.

Jonathan Hamilton-Cooper, Charlie’s father, told Ulster News: “He came into the room one day and I was talking with his mum about the plastic in the sea in an article we saw and he took a great interest in it. He was really concerned about the fish and the animals, that the plastic is basically harming in his eyes, so…