Originally posted by Sabaithal:

So, question: If you can't get a serpent near the shoreline, but you manage to kill it...how do you pick up the loot? I've read that it apparently sinks to the seafloor pretty quick, and by then you cannot get to it.

Only the meat doesn't sink, which is why most, including me, just kill serpents on the open sea since you don't need many scales at the moment.