To be able to build on existing data, the project started with a full literature research at authorities, institutes and companies as part of the examination of data on benthic invertebrates, macroalgae, aquatic and coastal birds, protected spawning grounds of fish, as well as sea mammals in the German part of the Baltic Sea. All of these topics were relevant to the later evaluation.

In the subsequent step, data deficiencies were determined which concerned especially the topics of benthic invertebrates and macroalgae.
To compensate for missing data on macroalgae and benthic invertebrates, data were collected offshore. Collected data from the shallow water areas were included in the mapping of types of offshore biotopes which mainly involved evaluations of vertical aerial photographs of the German Baltic coastal zone.