Cones of shame, poles of dignity

Recently on television, I saw an effort to save cute baby monk seals. Big eyes; furry fat bodies; flippers flapping around. To track them after they were rescued, scientists tagged them with antennae. These antennae are stalks stuck upon the heads of the baby seals. The height of the antennae, a full third of the seal's length. What are the social implications of such accoutrement for a baby seal? Is it like in the movie "Up" where dogs with "cones of shame" immediately fall from pack leader to outcast? Or will it have an elevating effect - the antennae of ascendancy - transforming the runt of the litter to alpha male. Maybe I want to be rescued and tagged, too. Perhaps, people telling tales of being studied by extraterrestrials are engaged in a kind of species karmic cycle. Us to them, them to us.