Abstract
The near-surface transport of exogenous plastics that enter the Bay of Biscay near Cape Ortegal (NW Spain), the main coastal entrance of marine litter into this semi-enclosed sea, were analyzed using a particle tracking model over the period 2009–2018. Four wind drag coefficients were considered to account for the different windages due to the diverse sizes of marine litter. The combined effect of winds and currents results in a higher concentration of floating plastics nearshore favoring beaching. On the other hand, the movement of the smallest plastics (< 5 mm) is only due to the effect of currents which favors their oceanward spread, hindering their further recovery.
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