Tjohn, great scene! You can have high seas with no white caps at all just as you can have low seas with many white caps since this is often dependant on whether there is wind and wind speed. You can have foul weather conditions out far to sea but bringing in large swells closer to land. I have been out at sea when weather conditions can change in a matter of minutes. It all makes for a more dramatic scene if that is what youre looking for. TheBryster, in some parts of the world the Barracuda is more feared than sharks. You see, sharks have rows of serrated, jagged teeth and their mouths are low on the body forcing them to chomp down with their strong upper jaws then shake their heads from side to side tearing and pulling off large chunks of flesh leaving a large gapping jagged wound. Whereas, barracudas have razor sharp teeth all in a row, in a mouth that runs the length of their heads, which comprise about 1/3 their body size. Theyre bodies are streamlined and dynamically designed making them one of the fastest explosive swimmers in the sea. Their bite is considered surgical in nature leaving clean cutes taking whole appendages in one fell swoop. Ive had my finger slit from the teeth of a baby barracuda. Ive also been surrounded by curious barracudas, one taking a bite out of my scuba fin (most un-nerving), as we were @125 feet from our ship on a nighttime scuba dive out in the Florida Keys. Not fun when its pitch dark, except for our lights beams, and they come right up in your face as they size you up with those large, emotionless mechanical looking eyes.