A collective built to float.

Built by hand between 1998 and 2001 in Port Phillip, Pelican1 is a 40-foot gaff-rigged ketch modelled on the working boats of the Bass Strait. She carries scientific instruments, a hydrophone array, and up to twelve passengers — students, researchers, and Elders.

She was built in Docklands Shed 19 by the community that would sail her — a feature that has shaped the culture of every voyage since.

Saltwater Projects is a not-for-profit collective founded on the lands of the Boonwurrung and Bunurong peoples. We hold tax-deductible donation status (DGR Item 1) and operate as a company limited by guarantee under Australian law.

Our work sits at the intersection of marine science, Indigenous knowledge, and public education — organised around the NMEA Ocean Literacy framework with a Saltwater-originated eighth principle recognising Sea Country sovereignty.

Areas of operation

• SCIENCE Water quality · microplastics · acoustic ecology · cetacean survey
• EDUCATION Curriculum co-design · sailing sea-classrooms · tertiary fieldwork
• CULTURE Indigenous-led collaboration on Sea Country · elders-in-residence
• MEDIA Documentary · soundscape composition · hydrophone archives
• POLICY IPMEN · Takao Declaration 2025 · UNESCO-IOC contributions