Welcome to CivilWarTalk!
Maple Leaf was studied pretty thoroughly by teams from East Carolina University's nautical archaeology program in the early 1990s. I think you'll find lots of folks here interested in the naval/maritime side of things.
Here's a 1990s article from ECU on the Maple Leaf project (attached).
Yes, ECU did a remarkable job surveying
Maple Leaf. But.....what ML has to offer has hardly been "studied pretty thoroughly". The ship has been fully mapped, which was a monumental job and took three years as it was buried under six to seven feet of muck providing no visibility. ECU did not do this alone. It also cost the State of Florida three hundred thousand dollars. Please, don't think I regret this, I don't. The survey and future management plan was written in three separate vols. All has been available on the Internet, accessible to the archaeological and General public at large on the ML shipwreck site since 1996. I say well done!
I'm here to continue researching the contents of ML ~ seven hundred and ninety eight thousand pounds of Civil War era cultural material, in a state of near perfect condition of an entire Brigade! Plus three Sutlers goods. Better still, this can start, not by championing the recovery of more material, but by allowing the members of civilwartalk the opportunity to review the over three thousand items already recovered by my company, SJAEI, that we gifted to the State of Florida in 1996.
What say you in regard to this proposal? I will digitally and release to this forum photos of artifacts, written research papers in regard to these items, audio tapes, etc., and answer any questions should the need arise. Maybe the need will not arise. This will largely depend on whether or not they care.
St. Johns Archaeological Expeditions, inc. (SJAEI) freely, with great pleasure, abdicated it's right to own any material, deeded not only the artfacts, but all our conservatory equipment, to the citizens of Florida nineteen years ago. Have you seen this marvelous collection?
We are the custodians of a NHL Shipwreck site. My duties, obligations, and responsibilties as a steward of Malpe Leaf's history dictate that I find a public forum for the benefit of both ML and the public.
Kindest Regards,
Keith