Acting State Coroner Sarah Helen Linton found that surfer Steven Jeffrey Payne died from multiple injuries after a white shark attack off Wharton Beach, Western Australia, on 10 March 2025. The inquest classified his death as an accident. Payne was not wearing a shark deterrent at the time; the coroner concluded that one was very unlikely to have prevented this particular attack.
What happened off Wharton Beach
Payne was sitting on his surfboard with two other surfers, about 60 metres from shore, when a large shark attacked. Eyewitness accounts and drone footage supported the account of the attack. The shark later took Payne beneath the surface, and his body was never recovered.
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Investigators recovered his damaged surfboard and tested it. DNA analysis identified the shark as a white shark, commonly called a great white. DPIRD senior research scientist Dr Michael Travers estimated from the board and drone footage that it was approximately 3.2 to 3.5 metres long. The estimate is approximate and attributed to Travers; it is not a direct measurement of the shark.
What the coroner determined
In the Coroners Court of Western Australia’s 2025 finding, [2025] WACOR 39 (S), Linton found that Payne died around midday on 10 March 2025 in the waters off Wharton Beach, Condingup, from multiple injuries. The coroner was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that his death was established and determined the manner of death to be accident.
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The finding drew on witness accounts, drone footage and physical evidence, including the damaged surfboard. Although Payne’s body was not recovered, the coroner reached a formal finding about the circumstances and cause of death from the evidence available.
Would a shark deterrent have prevented Payne’s death?
No such outcome can be promised. Payne and his partner had previously bought Shark Banz deterrents and worn them in South Australian waters, but Payne was not wearing one during the fatal surf. Considering what the evidence showed about this attack, the coroner said a deterrent was very unlikely to have changed the outcome.
“Therefore, even if Steve had been wearing his device or another similar device, it is unlikely to have made any difference to the outcome.”
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That conclusion concerns the circumstances of Payne’s attack. It is not a general test of every deterrent, nor does it establish that deterrents never work. The inquest’s evidence and conclusion do not support claiming that a device would have prevented his death.
The risk decisions discussed at the inquest
The finding noted that Payne and his partner had previously chosen not to surf at Granites Beach in South Australia after a fatal shark attack there and conversations with local people. Linton observed that the shark risk at Esperance was the same as at Granites Beach, and that sharks seen at Granites were likely to be the same sharks seen off Esperance. ABC News reported that three fatal shark attacks had occurred off Esperance since 2017 before Payne’s death; that is a pre-incident count, not a current total.
Incident and deterrent figures reported by ABC
ABC News reported figures attributed to the Australian Shark Incident Database (ASID) and the Western Australian government. These figures provide context, but the small number of recorded device-wearing incidents does not establish whether deterrents work or fail.
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| Reported figure | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| 1,285 | Shark incidents since 1791, according to ASID as reported by ABC News in 2025. |
| Six people | People attacked who were reported to have been wearing a deterrent device, according to ASID as reported by ABC News in 2025. |
| Five of the six incidents | Classified as “provoked” in the ASID figures reported by ABC News in 2025. |
| $200 | Value of the Western Australian government’s subsidy scheme, introduced in 2017, as reported by ABC News in 2025. |
| More than 9,400 people | People reported by ABC News in 2025 to have accessed the state subsidy. |
Beach closure announcement was made in March 2025
On 11 March 2025, the Shire of Esperance announced that Wharton Beach and Little Wharton Beach were closed under its Shark Hazard Response Policy while recovery efforts continued. That statement records the response at the time; it does not establish whether either beach is open or closed now. Check current local authority advice before visiting.
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