Marine scientists insist the danger was overblown.

"The rate of shark attacks has not risen," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the university.

Burgess said 55 people, one fewer than the previous year, suffered unprovoked shark attacks in the United States last year. Florida, as usual, was the runaway leader with 37 attacks. Three people died in the United States.

"Unprovoked" attacks are those where the humans were not trying to catch or touch the sharks.

The shark attack file lists a total of 76 unprovoked shark attacks around the world in 2001, down from 85 such attacks the previous year. A total of five people were killed, down from 12 in 2000, the group says.

In contrast, as many as 100 million sharks are caught and killed around the world each year, feeding a demand for shark fin soup, said Merry Camhi, director of the Living Oceans Program of the National Audubon Society.

Some species of sharks have been reduced by 75 to 80 percent over the past three decades because of commercial and sport fishing, according to Jack Musick of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The flap over shark attacks came amid a summer news lull in the United States and followed a particularly dramatic attack in early July, the start of the vacation season, on an eight-year-old boy who only just got away with his life.

FLORIDA ATTACK IN THE NEWS

A bull shark bit off 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast's arm in the waters off Pensacola in northwestern Florida. The boy's uncle pulled the shark to shore, emergency workers pulled the arm from the shark's throat and surgeons reattached the limb.

The boy survived but suffered brain injuries due to massive blood loss.

For the next few weeks, every shark bite, no matter how small, became news. The attention included television news stations breathlessly reporting that sharks had been spotted swimming in their natural habitat, the ocean.

Meanwhile, shark experts say the danger is the other way around.

Although several U.S. states have management programs to limit the decline in shark populations, Sonja Fordham of the Washington, D.C.-based Ocean Conservancy said more needed to be done.

She said some species might need to be put on the endangered species list.

"We're not acting quickly enough," she said. "There is a lot of talk but little action."

There are no international treaties on shark fishing as there are for other kinds of fish and whales, she said.

Sharks reproduce slowly and it would take many years of protected growth to rebuild the species, Musick said.

Burgess said beach-goers should show respect for sharks but need not fear them. "We need to use some common sense," he said.

Burgess said swimmers should stay out of the water between dusk and dawn when sharks are most likely to be feeding. They should also not swim alone or if they are bleeding, should avoid areas used by fishermen and should not wear jewelry.