Man Killed by Great White Shark in Australia Was From Texas

The man who was killed by a Great White Shark while diving in Australia Saturday was from Houston.  32 year old George Thomas Wainwright suffered fatal injuries when he was attacked by a 10-foot great white during a solo dive off the coast of Western Australia.

Thomas Wainwright was a marine systems engineer involved in capping the Macondo well after last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  He helped control the remote-operated vehicles that did the work of capping the blown out well.

Wainwright graduated from Texas A&M University in 2007 and lived in the Houston area until he got an opportunity to move to Australia while working for Oceaneering International.

Wainwright's father says the company offered to fly the family to Australia, but they declined because they are in deep grief and struggling to cope with the tragedy.

via Family says shark victim died doing what he loved - Houston Chronicle.

Wainwright - whose body was recovered by the college friends he was boating with - is the third man killed by a great white in that area in two months.  Even so, Australia wildlife officials say despite that area's relatively high population of great whites, attacks are rare.