I thought the key would be in the Ocean Evaluate > sample_attributes > snippet1 with my additional vex:
oceanSampleLayers(1, time, P, falloff, displace, v, J);
//move displacement relative to up
vector up = set(0.01,.99,0.01); //trying to clean up the Y=1 and Y=-1 awful smearing on the sphere
float dispdist = length(displace);
vector dispdir = normalize(displace);
matrix3 o = maketransform(v@N,(up));
vector newdisp = o * dispdir;
P += newdisp * dispdist;
BUT, it's not 100% effective. It's a bit better than the smeary default. But I swear it's gotta be a swap from a default (0,1,0) vector to the Normal vector... somehwere in there... :/
Please see attached hip file for particulars.
sphereocean_01.hip