The Society set up several Working Groups, each of which is concerned with a special interest area such as: sighting schemes, whales and dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea, cetacean pathology and so on. These Working Groups may organise their own meetings and web communication, but often they will set up workshops around the yearly ECS conference. Some working Groups publish their workshop results as special issues of the ECS Newsletter.
The ECS may ask members to represent the ECS in other (non-ECS) working groups or societies. Such a representation should always be co-ordinated with the ECS Council first.
Working groups should not be confused with committees or workshops. Working groups are concentrated around a particular research subject and can have a limited or an unlimited lifetime. Working groups are self-centered: they try to discuss about or solve questions brought forward within the group. Comittees are society-centered: they work on subjects brought forward within the society and on its aims. Both working groups and committees can organise workshops.