A fatal shark attack on a teenage girl at a popular surf break on Western Australia's south coast was witnessed by her family, police have said.

The 17-year-old girl was surfing with her father at Kelp Beds at Wylie Bay, just a few kilometres from Esperance, about 4:00pm local time on Monday when she was attacked.

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Her mother and two siblings witnessed the attack from the beach.

The teenager's father managed to drag her ashore, but she died in hospital from her injuries a short time later.

The girl was from the Mandurah suburb of Singleton, south of Perth, and was holidaying in the area over the Easter break.

It is the second shark attack in Esperance in two-and-a-half years.

Surfer Sean Pollard lost his left arm and right hand in the same area in October 2014.

The Esperance shire has closed Wylie Bay beach and the WA Department of Fisheries is planning to spend the day patrolling the area.

Surfboard pieces recovered

Esperance police officer, acting Senior Sergeant Ben Jeffes, praised the efforts of emergency service workers.

"The circumstances around the attack were quite awful, but the volunteers and the emergency services here were quick to respond," he said.

"They got there very quickly but despite their best efforts to save the young lady, unfortunately she passed away last night."

He said it was a difficult time for the community.

"It's quite tragic and there's a real sense of sadness and loss in the community here, it's just terrible," he said.

Senior Sergeant Jeffes said all pieces of the surfboard had now been recovered.

"We'll be forwarding that to the scientists at the Department of Fisheries ... and they'll attempt to identify what type of shark we're dealing with here and that will assist them I presume in their patrols out on the ocean."

Police were called to the scene of the attack on Monday afternoon. ( Fairfax Media: Caitlyn Rintoul )

He urged people not to enter the water.

"The message has to get out there, just don't go in the water, it is simply not safe at this time," he said.

"People should not undertake any surfing, swimming or diving in the Wylie Bay area for at least the next 48 hours and certainly until such a time as the beaches have been reopened."

Locals trying to come to grips with latest tragedy

Esperance shire president Victoria Brown said the girl's death was the latest in a series of tragedies for the region.

The beach will be closed for at least 48 hours. ( ABC News: Tara de Landgrafft )

It comes in the wake of last month's flash floods which claimed the lives of two men, and a bushfire in November 2015 in which four people died.

Ms Brown said the town was still trying to come to grips with the tragedies.

"We don't have much choice when these things hit," she said.

"You have just got to get up and face them and roll with the punches and that is what we are doing.

"But once again, devastating news of the loss of a beautiful life of a 17-year-old girl, with her family visiting our beautiful part of the world for Easter.

"Hopefully they [the residents] will rally as they always have, but sometimes you think geez how many knocks can you take, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are a resilient bunch."

Well-known local resident Malcolm Heasman said the community would be devastated by the incident.

"It will be like the wind knocked out of your sails," he said.

"It's an unfortunate event most definitely. You wish these things didn't happen, but it just seems to happen a bit more regularly down our neck of the woods which is a bit unfortunate."

Government reviews drum lines

Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly said baited drum lines were not being used at this stage to try and catch the shark.

"We made it clear in opposition that we don't see the merit in automatically deploying drum lines, because they don't actually make our beaches any safer," he said.

"We want to focus on individual shark deterrence, which can actually provide genuine protection for the people who are most at risk."

He said the Government started reviewing its "serious threat policy guidelines" several weeks ago and hoped to make a policy announcement soon.

Drum lines were used by the former Barnett Government as part of its shark mitigation strategy.