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.

That's what these guys are talking about in this thread. You use the harpoon and drag it on shore and kill it or kill it in shallow water.