It would be very involved to create realistic animations of an ocean surface.

This page: http://www.portageinc.com/community/pp/break.aspx

talks about the physics of various types of ocean waves.  The main ones you
would have to consider are:

Deep water waves - classified as having a depth of over half their wavelength.
Shallow waves - classified as having a depth less than 1/20th of their
wavelength.
Wind waves - caused by air currents moving over the surface of a the water.
Tidal waves - primarily caused by gravity of an orbiting body.

You would also have to simulate Stokes Drift.

The best way to do all of this, in my opinion would be to use a combination of
height-fields for topology and particles for spray.  The surface and spray would
be recalculated with each frame, which could take several seconds to several
minutes, depending on the scale.

you would have to cache the particles created in previous frames, so they can be
re-rendered in subsequent frames.  These particles would have to have a velocity
vector and a lifespan.

if you have the patience to dig through nicely written, but uncommented code,
you might be able to cobble together some simulation parameters from these:

https://www.shadertoy.com/view/Ms2SD1
http://david.li/waves/

Regards,
A.D.B.

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