Melbourne man Steven Jeffrey Payne feared dead in shocking Western Australian shark attack

A Melbourne surfer feared dead after a shark attack in Western Australia has been named, as his distraught family struggle to come to terms with their loss.

Witnesses have recounted the horrific moment a surfer was mauled by a shark off a remote beach in Western Australia, while his partner watched on. Picture: 9News

A Melbourne surfer feared dead after a shark attack in Western Australia has been identified as 37-year-old Steven Jeffrey Payne.

Authorities were on Tuesday afternoon yet to locate the missing surfer more than 24 hours after Mr Payne was attacked at Wharton Beach, 60km east of Esperance on Monday.

WA Police confirmed the search for Mr Payne had since shifted to a recovery mission and were unsure if authorities would return to the site on Wednesday.

WA Police Senior Sergeant Christopher Taylor said Mr Payne was just weeks into a six month holiday with his girlfriend and dog.

“Unfortunately that search has not recovered the surfer’s body, and I can also confirm that our search is a recovery, not a rescue,” he said on Tuesday.

“It is heartbreaking … (Mr Payne’s family are) distraught and trying to come to terms with what happened. It’s a tragic incident.”

Authorities were on Tuesday searching for Mr Payne’s body in waters off Wharton Beach in Cape Le Grand on the southern coast of Western Australia.

“A surf board with evidence of bite marks has been recovered from the water,” WA Police said in a statement.

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said a civilian’s drone footage showed “large amounts of blood” in the water where Mr Payne was attacked.

“I can confirm there is a small amount of footage (from) a drone that does confirm a shark was in the area, certainly in that immediate area, we can see large amounts of blood in the water,” he told Perth radio station 6PR.

There were several other surfers in the area at the time the shark attacked. Picture: 9News

Mr Blanch said WA Police would be assisting several other agencies in an effort to recover Mr Payne’s body.

He said it was another tragic outcome for swimmers and surfers in his state.

“It’s very, very sad. Sadly (for) Western Australians, that’s not unusual to hear sometimes, particularly down that way at Esperance,” he added.

“It is just one of those tragedies in our community that happen.

“We want to bring (Mr Payne’s family) closure if we can find more evidence of what occurred.”

Witness Joscelin Boissieux said Mr Payne’s partner was sitting on the beach as he was attacked.

“She was shocked,” he told Nine.

“There were screams. There were people saying ‘get out’.

“It was a very panicked moment. We heard the scream and everyone got out of the water.”

Mr Boissieux said there were several other surfers in the area at the time.

“There was only a surfboard left, floating around about 30m from the shore,” he added.

“The water next to it was dark, with a shark’s fin circling around.”

Seasoned Western Australian diver Marc Payne said there have been three fatal shark attacks near Esperance in recent years.

He said authorities needed to increase shark tagging to monitor the movements of sharks along the WA coast.

He has had more than a dozen encounters with Great white sharks in his years as an abalone diver.

“This incident was in the middle of the day, chest-deep,” he told Perth radio station 6PR.

“It’s not a mistake, that’s what our concern is.

“I’m heartwrenched, mate. The community has had enough. We really want something done.

“We’re talking about human lives here.”