Sea level and current observations made in the Delaware estuary during autumn of 1982 were examined for evidence of wind-forced subtidal variability. The large subtidal sea level fluctuations at the mouth of the Delaware were found to be forced primarily by the wind stress component over the continental shelf nearly parallel to shore, indicating coastal Ekman transport to the right of the wind. Local wind forcing within the estuary is shown to be insignificant. The subtidal sea level in the interior of the estuary was found to be driven by the wind through a combination of two remote forcing mechanisms: one acting at the mouth of the Dalaware through direct estuary-shelf coupling and a second acting locally over the Chesapeake Bay and being transmitted from the upper Chesapeake through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which links the two estuaries. In the upper Delaware estuary we found predominantly barotropic subtidal current fluctuations superimposed on a much weaker two-layer gravitational circulation. These current fluctuations were produced primarily by the local subtidal surface slope generated by the difference between the two remote forcing mechanisms. The evidence strongly suggests that the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal plays a critical role in the subtidal circulation of the Delaware estuary.