A surfer in Australia was presumed dead on Tuesday after drone footage and other signs revealed evidence of a shark attack.
Steven Jeffrey Payne, 37, had been surfing at Wharton Beach on Monday when he was spotted in distress around noon, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
His shark-bitten board was later found floating in the water.
Earlier that day, a shark had been spotted off the beach, which is located near the town of Esperance, Australia.
His girlfriend was reportedly standing on the beach when the attack happened, according to The West Australian.
“She was shocked,” a witness said of Payne’s girlfriend.
“We heard the screams to everyone to get out of the water,” he added.
Police worked with search and rescue to recover the body but, after speaking with witnesses and reviewing drone footage, spoke on Tuesday about calling off the search.
“I don’t think there’s much point in utilizing all the resources that we have at the moment too much longer,” Christopher Taylor, the Esperance Police Station senior sergeant, remarked.
Have you ever seen a shark in the wild?
“There’s only so much of the bay you can keep searching over and over. At the moment, we haven’t recovered anything.”
Taylor spoke about the content of the drone footage, which was captured shortly after the attack.
“There was a lot of blood, the shark, and some other things that I don’t think any others need to see,” Taylor said.
Finding no further evidence of the shark still being in the area, Taylor added that the beach would open the next day.
Payne was vacationing from Melbourne, Australia, and was visiting Esperance with his girlfriend and his dog.
He was originally from New Zealand, according to 7 News Australia.
A surfer who was fatally mauled by a shark in front of his partner at a remote WA beach was a talented sportsman from New Zealand. #7NEWS https://t.co/zNRuabjMcq
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) March 12, 2025
“It is heartbreaking, obviously, and the whole community of Esperance feels the pain — not as much as the family, obviously. They’re distraught and trying to come to terms with what happened yesterday. But as a community within Esperance, we’ve been through this before, and it hurts a lot,” Taylor said.
Taylor was likely referring to the three fatal shark attacks in the region since 2017, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The first victim in the series of attacks was 17-year-old surfer Laeticia Brouwer, who was killed by a great white shark.
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