Pierce County investigators say a man's body floated to shore this morning at Sunrise Beach County Park on the Gig Harbor Peninsula.

The body was spotted about 7:45 a.m., sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Detectives and the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office were on scene.

The body is that of a man. Not much else is known yet.

Pierce County law enforcement officers recovered a body from The Narrows on Friday morning and were investigating how the man died.

A boater spotted the man's body about 7:15 a.m. Pierce County sheriff's deputies recovered the body along the shore below the 4400 block of Reid Drive Northwest, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

"We believe we know who it is," he said.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office was working to identify the man, who is believed to be in his 40s, and determined how he died. Troyer said it's possible the man jumped from the bridge.

"It's still under investigation," Troyer said.

The Coast Guard has recovered the body of a man who went off the Narrows Bridge this morning.

Witnesses saw the man jump or fall from the west side of the bridge about 11:30 a.m., Washington State Patrol trooper Brandy Kessler said.

A short time later, a U.S. Coast Guard tug boat found the body three miles south of the bridge.

The State Patrol is investigating.

Apparently, there was word this morning over the marine radio channels about a small spill in the Foss Waterway.

The U.S. Coast Guard reports a cup of transmission fluid spilled from a recreational vessel. It was self-reported.

The Coast Guard and Department of Ecology were involved.

It may be up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to decide whether criminal charges should be filed against the man who was driving a boat that struck a teenage kayaker on American Lake earlier this year.

Lakewood city attorneys said today the collision that badly injured 14-year-old David Kenny “D.K.” Ross occurred in a part of the lake that’s inside the Fort Lewis Military Reservation, not the city limits.

That would make it a federal case if any crime was committed, Lakewood city attorney Heidi Wachter said.

“It’s not in our jurisdiction,” Wachter said.

(The map above – provided by the Lakewood City Attorney's Office – shows the location of the incident. The island on the lower right side of the map is Silcox Island, which is within the city limits.)

Her office reviewed the case after Pierce County deputy prosecutor Tim Jones decided earlier this month that the driver of the boat, whose name has not been released, had not committed any behavior that could be charged as a felony.

Jones sent the case to Lakewood to decide if misdemeanor charges or boating infractions were warranted.

Wachter said her attorneys discovered the jurisdictional question while reviewing police reports. Jones said today that after a subsequent review it also appears to him that the collision occurred outside the Lakewood city limits.

Wachter said she called the U.S. Attorney’s Office to make federal officials aware of the case.

Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, said the case has not yet been forwarded to federal prosecutors for their review.

“There is only a small area of the lake that is within our jurisdiction,” Langlie said. “If it is determined to be within our jurisdiction, there are Army regulations and state regulations that may apply.”

D.K. suffered a ruptured spleen, broken ribs and a large gash in his head after being hit while paddling across the lake March 1. He remains hospitalized with serious injuries.

A fisherman told authorities he found the boy unconscious in the water and towed him to shore. Lakewood police first reported the case as a hit-and-run but later determined the boater who hit D.K. hadn’t left the scene after all.

D.K.’s family has reported that the fisherman is the person who hit the boy.

Ferry riders should expect delays today because the M/V Christine Anderson is operating on one main engine, Pierce County reported this morning.

Crews have not be able to start the No. 1 main engine. They don't know what's causing the problems. Mechanics have been called to determine the cause of the engine trouble and to fix it.

UPDATE: The ferry has been fixed. Here's the RIDER ALERT from the county.

As of the 10:20 a.m. run the M/V Christine Anderson was operating at 100%. NC Machinery determined the problem to be the air starter lube oil in the number #1 engine that did not drain entirely causing a muffler to jam thus not allowing air to properly pass through the starter. The oil was changed to a lighter viscosity allowing the engine to operate normally.

Crews returned to Commencement Bay this morning to continue to deal with a hydraulic fluid spill discovered yesterday afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard, state Department of Ecology and Washington Maritime Cooperative responded to the scene Tuesday.

Investigators believe the Hyundai Republic lost up to 158 gallons of hydraulic oil in the Blair Waterway on Tuesday afternoon.

A residual sheen was spotted in Seattle. Crews flew over the scene to determine the extent of the damage.

"They spotted patches in the Blair Waterway," the U.S. Coast Guard reported. "A spill response vessel assessed the spill and recovered any oil that it could."

The cause of the spill was under investigation.

Faint rainbow sheen can be seen at the site of an oil spill at the Port of Tacoma. Brian Everstine/The News Tribune

Crews are containing oil that spilled in Commencement Bay Tuesday afternoon as most of the pollution has dissipated.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Ron Owens said the Hyundai Republic ship was leaving port at about 3:30 this afternoon when it accidentally released hydraulic oil into the water. About 150 gallons were released before ship crews closed an open valve.

Small amounts of oil were also seen near Vashon Island where the ship had earlier passed, Owens said.

Crews from the Coast Guard, the Department of Ecology and the Washington state Maritime Cooperative are on scene to determine the extent of the pollution. Rainbow sheen could be seen on the shore of the waterway next to the old Emerald Queen Casino.

Crews were setting up containment booms to control the spill over night and will return to the scene in the morning to see what else needs to be done.

A barge took on water and started flipping between Fox and McNeil Islands at about 4 p.m. this afternoon, and crews are now waiting to see if it continues to sink.

Bob Shrewsbury, the president of Western Towboat in Seattle, said his company's boat was towing a barge full of gravel when it apparently took on water. The barge was "getting up in years," he said.

Tug operators are now pulling the barge out of the traffic lanes and waiting to see if it will sink.

Petty Officer Shawn Eggert of the U.S. Coast Guard in Seattle said the boat isn't a navigational hazard and there is no pollution, so the Coast Guard is not sending a boat out.

No injuries were reported.

The barge is owned by Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, Shrewsbury said.

UPDATE: The father of a teenager hit by a boat on American Lake last weekend said today the driver of the vessel "didn't leave the scene" of the collision as originally reported.

"Apparently, the guy got scared and lied about it," David Hermansen told The News Tribune.

Hermansen declined to say if the fisherman credited with finding his son in the water Sunday and taking the boy, David-Kenny Ross, to shore was the person who hit him as he kayaked across the lake.

He did say he was praying for the man. "He's suffering, too," Hermansen said. "It was an accident."

Hermansen's comments came hours after the Lakewood Police Department issued a news release saying its officers had identified the driver of the boat.

Lt. Heidi Hoffman said officers talked to the man several times over the past several days.

"This is someone we were aware of from the first day," said Hoffman, who characterized the collision as "a tragic accident."

She declined to divulge the details of the conversations detectives had with the man and did not release the driver's name.

INITIAL POST:

Lakewood police reported today that they've interviewed the boater suspected of colliding with teenage kayaker David Kenny "D.K." Ross on American Lake on Sunday, leaving the boy badly injured.

Lt. Heidi Hoffman declined to release details of investigators' conversations with the man and also declined to reveal his name. He's not been arrested, Hoffman said.

Detectives plan to turn over their case files to Pierce County prosecutors for a possible charging decision next week, but Hoffman said the collision "appears to be a tragic accident."

"At this time, there is nothing to indicate that the other boater intended to injure Ross or acted in a negligent or reckless manner," Hoffman wrote in a news release.

The boy (seen here) was hurt Sunday afternoon when his kayak was hit by a powerboat, which left him facedown in the water. He was rescued by a passing fisherman and taken to Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, then transferred to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.

Hoffman said today that the man interviewed by investigators was "someone we were aware of from the first day."

The boy remains in critical condition at Mary Bridge, hospital spokesman Todd Kelley said.

A teenager was critically injured Sunday afternoon when he was struck by a boat while kayaking on American Lake in Lakewood.

The boater didn't stop and Lakewood police were working to identify that person. The department's Marine Service Unit and persons crimes detectives are investigating. They will be back out at American Lake today, Lakewood police Lt. Heidi Hoffman said.

The 14-year-old boy, identified as David Ross, was wearing a bright-colored life jacket and paddling a kayak on American Lake between Silcox Island the Veterans Affairs property, Lakewood police reported. Shortly after 1:30 p.m., he was struck by a motor boat.

Ross was found unconscious. A passing fisherman towed him to shore and bystanders started CPR, Lakewood firefighters reported. Paramedics arrived and transported the boy to Madigan Army Medical Center with life threatening injuries.

The boy's father told KIRO TV that the teen underwent more than five hours of surgery after the collision.

Ross remained in intensive care today.

No one witnessed the collision. However, others told Lakewood police officers that a white 19- to 20-foot white Cutty Cabin pleasure craft with full mooring canvas had been speeding across the lake for most of the day. They described it as a Bayliner or Rienell-type boat, police reported.

"We are just interested in talking to whomever was on that boat," Hoffman said.

Officers inspected five boats as they left the lake Sunday for possible damage but didn't find anything suspicious, Hoffman said.

The boy's kayak was recovered.

"It was pretty busted up and there were what appeared to be prop marks on it," Hoffman said.

Lakewood police encourage anyone with information about the collision to call 911 or the department's non-emergency line at 253-830-5000.

UPDATE: Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to a break in this incident.

Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959. Tipsters may remain anonymous.

The Tacoma-Tahlequah route to Vashon Island was suspended for about six hours today after the lone ferry suffered a mechanical problem earlier this afternoon.

Earlier today, an engine on the Hiyu ferry failed, due to a problem with lube and oil pressure, DOT spokeswoman Laura Johnson said. The ferry was able to make it to port and everyone made it off the boat.

Johnson said crews performed sea trials to see if the ferry is able to resume the route.

The 34-car Hiyu is filling in for the 48-car Rhododendron, which has been dry docked for maintenance, and isn't expected back until March 1. Commuters were already frustrated with the smaller, older ferry.

At a hearing last week held on Vashon Island, passengers shared their frustrations with Washington State Ferries.