This is the default OS X wallpaper introduced in version 10.9 codename "Mavericks", which was released in October 2013.
The file is found at:
Macintosh HD/Library/Desktop Pictures/Wave.jpg
The picture comes associated with the following EXIF metadata:
ExifTool Version Number : 12.76 File Name : Wave.jpg File Size : 9.4 MB File Modification Date/Time : 2015:08:25 14:48:08-04:30 File Access Date/Time : 2026:01:02 10:19:00-04:00 File Inode Change Date/Time : 2026:01:02 10:19:00-04:00 File Permissions : -rw-r--r-- File Type : JPEG File Type Extension : jpg MIME Type : image/jpeg Exif Byte Order : Big-endian (Motorola, MM) Compression : Uncompressed Photometric Interpretation : RGB Orientation : Horizontal (normal) Samples Per Pixel : 3 X Resolution : 240 Y Resolution : 240 Planar Configuration : Chunky Resolution Unit : inches Software : Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh) Modify Date : 2013:07:18 14:13:33 Color Space : sRGB Exif Image Width : 5120 Exif Image Height : 2880 Thumbnail Offset : 406 Thumbnail Length : 3364 Current IPTC Digest : cdcffa7da8c7be09057076aeaf05c34e Coded Character Set : UTF8 Application Record Version : 0 IPTC Digest : cdcffa7da8c7be09057076aeaf05c34e Displayed Units X : inches Displayed Units Y : inches Print Style : Centered Print Position : 0 0 Print Scale : 1 Global Angle : 120 Global Altitude : 30 URL List : Slices Group Name : 130516-HeroWP-SL-v21f-TIFF-No Compression Num Slices : 1 Pixel Aspect Ratio : 1 Photoshop Thumbnail : (Binary data 3364 bytes, use -b option to extract) Has Real Merged Data : Yes Writer Name : Adobe Photoshop Reader Name : Adobe Photoshop CS6 Photoshop Quality : 12 Photoshop Format : Standard XMP Toolkit : Adobe XMP Core 5.3-c011 66.145661, 2012/02/06-14:56:27 Creator Tool : Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh) Create Date : 2013:05:17 09:51:49-07:00 Metadata Date : 2013:07:18 14:13:33-07:00 Color Mode : RGB ICC Profile Name : sRGB IEC61966-2.1 Format : image/jpeg Instance ID : xmp.iid:DD4FC917C52068118083B02DB750C82A Document ID : xmp.did:43F759AD33206811822AC5CE87DD681A Original Document ID : xmp.did:43F759AD33206811822AC5CE87DD681A Document Ancestors : A6F6F20EF6BCD2C43B152B7235C14116, C3E0C5B725B0035F524DC730CD33FD3B, adobe:docid:photoshop:56f92827-a1de-11e2-80d2-ec2dae0602d0, xmp.did:015a5518-446a-4454-b89f-d1f0fa80cdf2, xmp.did:05801174072068118A6DFEB563E5AA60, xmp.did:0d64fde1-033f-480e-aed9-572aa832e4e1, xmp.did:1314a937-8635-4702-96e3-724ec29b283b, xmp.did:2658a241-d463-4c25-a784-1e164b1d5930, xmp.did:4E8E761C392168118083D20F80B066A8, xmp.did:5364731F682068118083DE9A826D10B4, xmp.did:7E7EB4F1872068118083DE9A826D10B4, xmp.did:98de1e32-04d6-4279-ae36-244a7749a606, xmp.did:A63E21A9E82168118083D20F80B066A8, xmp.did:C272A898772068118083F4DD62AD1C9F, xmp.did:F2BD2D91B82068118083DE9A826D10B4, xmp.did:bbc320f6-9483-435e-b66e-3861821f4bf7, xmp.did:efd13422-2fdd-41f2-bf3d-c1cc2c691d92, xmp.did:f56ba6a6-86c7-4295-90ad-9928679a60cf, xmp.did:f58ad245-78b0-4ce8-953f-b2af354a022d History Action : created, saved, converted, derived, saved History Instance ID : xmp.iid:43F759AD33206811822AC5CE87DD681A, xmp.iid:DC4FC917C52068118083B02DB750C82A, xmp.iid:DD4FC917C52068118083B02DB750C82A History When : 2013:05:17 09:51:49-07:00, 2013:07:18 14:13:33-07:00, 2013:07:18 14:13:33-07:00 History Software Agent : Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh), Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh), Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh) History Changed : /, / History Parameters : from image/tiff to image/jpeg, converted from image/tiff to image/jpeg Derived From Instance ID : xmp.iid:DC4FC917C52068118083B02DB750C82A Derived From Document ID : xmp.did:43F759AD33206811822AC5CE87DD681A Derived From Original Document ID: xmp.did:43F759AD33206811822AC5CE87DD681A Profile CMM Type : Linotronic Profile Version : 2.1.0 Profile Class : Display Device Profile Color Space Data : RGB Profile Connection Space : XYZ Profile Date Time : 1998:02:09 06:49:00 Profile File Signature : acsp Primary Platform : Microsoft Corporation CMM Flags : Not Embedded, Independent Device Manufacturer : Hewlett-Packard Device Model : sRGB Device Attributes : Reflective, Glossy, Positive, Color Rendering Intent : Media-Relative Colorimetric Connection Space Illuminant : 0.9642 1 0.82491 Profile Creator : Hewlett-Packard Profile ID : 0 Profile Copyright : Copyright (c) 1998 Hewlett-Packard Company Profile Description : sRGB IEC61966-2.1 Media White Point : 0.95045 1 1.08905 Media Black Point : 0 0 0 Red Matrix Column : 0.43607 0.22249 0.01392 Green Matrix Column : 0.38515 0.71687 0.09708 Blue Matrix Column : 0.14307 0.06061 0.7141 Device Mfg Desc : IEC http://www.iec.ch Device Model Desc : IEC 61966-2.1 Default RGB colour space - sRGB Viewing Cond Desc : Reference Viewing Condition in IEC61966-2.1 Viewing Cond Illuminant : 19.6445 20.3718 16.8089 Viewing Cond Surround : 3.92889 4.07439 3.36179 Viewing Cond Illuminant Type : D50 Luminance : 76.03647 80 87.12462 Measurement Observer : CIE 1931 Measurement Backing : 0 0 0 Measurement Geometry : Unknown Measurement Flare : 0.999% Measurement Illuminant : D65 Technology : Cathode Ray Tube Display Red Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract) Green Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract) Blue Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract) DCT Encode Version : 100 APP14 Flags 0 : [14] APP14 Flags 1 : (none) Color Transform : YCbCr Image Width : 5120 Image Height : 2880 Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding Bits Per Sample : 8 Color Components : 3 Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1) Image Size : 5120x2880 Megapixels : 14.7 Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 3364 bytes, use -b option to extract)
This photograph was likely taken in mid-2013 at Mavericks, California, where the ocean waves show a characteristic green to blue color.
I have yet to find more information to tell the story behind this photo, or to explain the strong fascination it produces in the user.