  Coastal transport in the Bay of Palma, a small region in the island of
Mallorca, Spain, is characterized in terms of Lagrangian descriptors. The data
sets used for this study are the output for two months (one in autumn and one
in summer) of a high resolution numerical model, ROMS, forced atmospherically
and with a spatial resolution of 300 m. The two months were selected because
its different wind regime, which is the main driver of the sea dynamics in this
area. Finite-size Lyapunov Exponents (FSLEs) were used to locate
semi-persistent Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) and to understand the
different flow regimes in the Bay. The different wind directions and regularity
in the two months have a clear impact on the surface Bay dynamics, whereas only
topographic features appear clearly in the bottom structures. The fluid
interchange between the Bay and the open ocean was tudied by computing particle
trajectories and Residence Times (RT) maps. The escape rate of particles out of
the Bay is qualitatively different, with a 32$%$ more of escape rate of
particles to the ocean in October than in July, owing to the different
geometric characteristics of the flow. We show that LCSs separate regions with
different transport properties by displaying spatial distributions of residence
times on synoptic Lagrangian maps together with the location of the LCSs.
Correlations between the time-dependent behavior of FSLE and RT are also
investigated, showing a negative dependence when the stirring characterized by
FSLE values moves particles in the direction of escape.
