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Ceremonial cheques - Rio Waida and Zoë Steyn posed side by side in the controversial photo, each with their ceremonial cheques - $8,000 for boys winner Waida, and $4,000 for girls winner Steyn.

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Spot the difference - Union body Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari posted the photo of the two holding their winner's cheques on Twitter. The post said, "Spot the difference. Are women’s waves half as high??"

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Same ocean - Many other Twitter users agreed with Hilakari. One user posted, "Same ocean, same skill, same conditions...half the prize money!?"

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Mikaela Greene - According to Pedestrian.TV, surfer Mikaela Greene said, “It costs the same amount of money to travel here for the women’s and the men’s and it’s hard to fund. So I think it would be nice to be rewarded the same as the guys.”

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WSL statement - In a statement WSL attempted to explain the pay disparity for this event. "The issue raised with regards to the Billabong Ballito Pro Junior stemmed from a pay parity execution".

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Withdrawals - It went on, "based on original 32-man and 16-woman fields ... withdrawals [led to] a subsequent pay disparity between the two events." However, this does not explain the disparity in all WSL events.

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Prize money - Take a look at Australia's best known surf events and their prize money divisions.

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Australian Open of Surfing - The Australian Open of Surfing is an event that brought the World Surf League's (WSL) best to Manly Beach in Sydney for a Qualifying Series (QS) World Surf Competition.

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The nation's biggest - It is the nation's biggest surf, skate, music and lifestyle festival. This Australian surf event incorporates WSL-sanctioned QS 6000 Men’s and Women’s Pro events to gain points in the World Tour.

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Thousands - Thousands gather to watch the epic surf competition as well as enjoy the festivities on Manly Beach.

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First prize - In 2017, Australian Open of Surfing winner was Brazilian surfer Jesse Mendes winning the first prize of $25,000.

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Girls move - Whereas the winner of Girls Make Your Move Women's Pro for the same event was Hawaiian surfer Malia Manuel, winning $10,000.

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Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast - Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast is the first event of the season for the WSL Championship Tour, setting the tone for the year.

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Coolangatta - Snapper Rocks in Coolangatta is where the event is held along the Superbank. The dates range between March 11 to March 22.

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Roxy Pro - The Roxy Pro event is the women's division of the opening surf event of the WSL Championship Tour.

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Julian Wilson - Australian surfer Julian Wilson won the men's division, copping $100,000 in prize money earlier this year.

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Lakey Peterson - And $65,000 went to Californian surfer Lakey Peterson, the winner of Roxy Pro.

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Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach - The Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in Sydney celebrated it's 57th anniversary this year.

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Second - It is the second event on the WSL World Championship Tour.

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Italo Ferreira - This year's Rip Curl Pro was won by surfer Italo Ferreira of Brazil, earning $100,000 in prize money.

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Mick Fanning - As the Rip Curl Pro was three-time WSL World Champion Mick Fanning's last hurrah before retiring, he gave it his best. He won second place, receiving $55,000 in prize money.

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Stephanie Gilmore - Coming in at first place of the Rip Curl Women's Pro, Australian surfer Stephanie Gilmore won $65,000 in prize money. While the women's second place received $33,000.

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Surfest - A part of the WSL Qualifying Series, Newcastle's Surfest is one of Australia's popular surf events.

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Layne Beachley - One of the most memorable moments at a WSL event is when both world number ones, Layne Beachley and Andy Irons, went head to head in 2004.

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Battle of the sexes  - According to the ABC, Beachley said, "There's more microphones here than when I won my sixth world title," in reaction to the amount of press that arrived.

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First place - The latest Surfest saw first place for Australian surfer Mikey Wright winning $25,000 in the men's, and Hawaiian surfer Coco Ho winning $10,000 in the women's.

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Phillip Island Pro - Phillip Island Pro attracts top local talent to take on national and international surfers in this QS 1000 event.

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First year - Last year was Phillip Island Pro's first annual event, attracted 120 professional surfers to the Penguin Parade at Summerland Bay on Phillip Island.

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Jacob Willcox - Western Australian surfer Jacob Willcox claimed the first-ever Phillip Island Pro Men's QS 1,000 winning $1,875.

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Piper Harrison - Coolangatta surfer Piper Harrison has also been crowned the inaugural Phillip Island Pro Women's Champion earning herself $1,125 in her first QS win.

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