This shot is part of a series of images titled "Underbelly: The Anatomy of a Breaking Wave" that I have been working on. It requires good clarity in the water, good light, and the right kind of long period waves to allow the water to settle between each set of waves. The cocoon like vortices you can see wrapping around the belly of the wave last hundredths of a second before the whole thing collapses into a white foam ball.