A man is attempting to swim around the Isle of Wight, to raise awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in our seas.

Scroll down to donate and follow his progress via a LIVE tracker...

Today (Monday), at 11am, after months of training and planning, Oly Rush set off from Seaview.

He is hoping to circumnavigate the Island and is also aiming to set a new world record.

He wants to complete the Project Planet Earth challenge - which has only been done on four occasions - in under 26 hours.

The route is 65 miles and Oly described it on Instagram as "the hardest physical and mental challenge I’ve ever taken on."

Last year, Oly swam 100 miles over 10 days in his #swimjurassic challenge.

He is running a Just Giving page to help the fight to clean up our coast and has already raised more than £5,000.

He posted: "The aim is to open peoples eyes to the devastating impact of plastic pollution, as well as raising the vital funds we need to combat it. 

"The support has been beyond incredible.

"Now, I’ve got a little swim to do so must dash!"