Surfer attacked by shark off coast of Australia is presumed dead, as police say drone footage captured aftermath

A surfer who was attacked by a shark off the coast of Australia on Monday is presumed dead, police said Tuesday. 

Officials received reports of the attack around 12:10 p.m. local time on Monday, the Western Australia Police Force said. The reported attack took place off Wharton Beach in Esperance, a town in southwestern Australia. 

Police have recovered a surfboard with evidence of bite marks, the Western Australia Police Force said. Police, marine rescue and emergency responders searched the area on Monday, paused their efforts overnight, and resumed on Tuesday morning. 

At around 5 p.m. local time Tuesday, police said the surfer was presumed dead. 

“Unfortunately, our search has not recovered the surfer’s body,” said Esperance Police Station senior sergeant Christoper Taylor in a video police shared online. “I can also confirm that our search is a recovery, not a rescue.”

Taylor called the situation “heartbreaking.” He told local media that police have reviewed drone footage that captured the aftermath of the incident. 

“There was a lot of blood, the shark, and some other things that I don’t think any others need to see,” Taylor told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

Police did not identify the surfer, except to say that he was a man in his 30s. ABC identified him as Steven Jeffrey Payne, who was visiting from Melbourne. He was traveling with his partner and his dog, his brother told the publication. Taylor told ABC Australia that Payne’s  partner witnessed the attack. 

The family “is distraught and trying to come to terms with what happened yesterday,” Taylor said in the police video. “It is heartbreaking, obviously, and the whole community of Esperance feels the pain.”  

Taylor told ABC that the search would likely be called off after Tuesday. 

Wharton Beach was closed Monday and Tuesday, but will likely be reopened Wednesday, Taylor told ABC. Police said there have been no further shark sightings in the area. Australian officials recommend beachgoers monitor local shark alerts to stay safe. Swimmers and surfers should also stay inside beach enclosure areas, which include barriers that to deter sharks. 

There are about 100 shark species in Western Australia, according to SharkSmart, a website run by Australian officials that warns about shark activity and gives tips on how to stay safe. Most of the species are capable of injuring humans, but an “overwhelming majority of them are not aggressive under most circumstances.” Police did not specify what kind of shark attacked the surfer. 

Shark attacks in Australia are rare, with 255 fatal bites recorded since 1791 in the country of 27 million people, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database. 

Another surfer was presumed dead after a shark attack in South Australia in early January. A witness who saw the attack rode into the sea and retrieved the man’s surfboard, but officials said there was “no sign” of the surfer afterwards.