In recent years, mass mortality events have ripped through noble pen shell populations in the Mediterranean Sea. Can biologists save this beloved underwater giant?Diving in the cold November sea near the Croatian coast to check several submerged onion bags hanging on the suspended rope, Croatian marine biologists Silvija Kipson and Sandro Dujmović were in for a surprise.The improvised larvae collectors, placed here five months earlier, were full of noble pen shells, juvenile specimens of one of the most endangered species in the Mediterranean Sea."These meshy bags are a proven method to attract noble pen shell larvae, but chances for their appearance and survival were slim," says Kipson. "It's almost a miracle that we found around 80 alive baby animals."It was one of the largest juvenile populations discovered in the last seven years, bringing a glimpse of hope that international efforts to preserve this endemic clam, struck by several sudden events of mass mortality since 2016, might be finally paying off.