In 1969 the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University under the auspices of the Sea Grant Program, began to acquire and to develop the expertise necessary to encompass aquatic animal medicine professionally. Currently, this is one of the few veterinary colleges in the United States to conduct research on infectious and non-infectious diseases of marine mammals and of fish and shellfish, with special emphasis on marine species. Moreover, it is the only veterinary college in the United States to offer formal instruction in aquatic animal medicine at the preprofessional and graduate levels.