An Australian surfer is presumed dead after a shark attack while his girlfriend and others watched on in horror, only weeks into the couple’s six-month-long dream vacation.

Australian police have confirmed that a surfer who went missing was “taken by a shark” after search and rescue teams recovered a surfboard scarred with “bite marks” from the area of the attack. The victim – identified by Australian media as 37-year-old Steven Payne – was mauled by a shark while surfing at Wharton beach in a remote area of Western Australia,